


Determination and Strength (10th anniversary edition)

by keirajo



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Danger, Drama, F/M, Other, Romance, apocalyptic future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24325360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keirajo/pseuds/keirajo
Summary: A normal day in Station Square as Sonic faces off against Dr. Eggman--except something really, REALLY bad happens.   And when Shadow uses Chaos Control with the unpredictable indigo Chaos Emerald--the Earth loses its greatest hero at the very last moment.........for an even more poweful Hive of Black Arms aliens are on their way to Earth.Now it's up to Knuckles and the rest to rally against Black Death's invasion and do their best to survive into the future......
Relationships: Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. A Single Moment in Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is the only time I plan to post a non-Transformers work here. This is a very special story--not only is it the last "Sonic" fan-fiction I ever wrote before I moved on to other works, but it is also one of my greatest pieces of fiction. I still enjoy re-reading this work often and for the 10th anniversary of my writing it, I chose to celebrate it by drawing a brand-new cover illustration, which you may see here: 
> 
> https://www.weasyl.com/~keirajo/submissions/1905992/determination-and-strength-2020-cover
> 
> .........but I have also done a lot of editing of this work. I cleaned a lot up and even added a few scenes here and there to the original work given to friends (and posted when I was at Fur Affinity--then removed when I closed my gallery there).
> 
> For those not interested in this series and 'fic--I'll be posting some new Transformers works pretty soon........for those that want to give it a try, I hope you'll enjoy it. *bows*

**_ Determination and Strength _ **

**_Chapter One: A Single Moment in Time_ **

Station Square was in chaos, but it certainly wasn’t the first time that this had ever happened. People were yelling and crying and running for some kind of cover as the nefarious Dr. Eggman had entered the city—and it wasn’t as if his entrance hadn’t been silent and stealthy. No, _that_ simply wasn’t Dr. Eggman’s style!

The blonde-haired and blue-eyed little boy standing with his mother on a sidewalk suddenly saw a blue blur rush by him and instantly _knew_ it was the celebrated hero of the world, Sonic the Hedgehog. It _wasn’t_ uncommon to see the blue-furred Hedgehog running around in Station Square, but the little boy had never actually seen him before. He was really excited and grabbed his mom’s arm, pulling hard and crying out to her that he really saw Sonic the Hedgehog! His mom laughed softly and was about to reply as she turned to look at him and she realized just _why_ Sonic was so close nearby. She scooped her eight-year-old son up into her arms and started to run towards a building for shelter, just as the giant robot’s thick leg slammed down onto the pavement and sent shockwaves through the whole city block.

It was yet another of the genius Dr. Eggman’s giant robots. This particular one had a huge egg-shaped body and tree trunk-like legs, the arms almost seemed spindly with huge gauntlet-style arm—one arm had a fist shaped like a hammer, the other arm had a fist shaped like a wrecking-ball. The huge mechanoid was painted in the usual colors of red, yellow and orange…colors that Eggman often used in many of his mechanoids. The massive foot that had come down on the pavement was trying to stomp something on the ground…it had to be none other than Sonic that it was fighting with, and was likely the reason why Sonic was here right now.

This was all pretty typical for Sonic…although he fought for peace and freedom, he often _enjoyed_ fighting against Eggman’s mechanoids. To him, it was just something to kill time in his ever-speedy life. Because he lived life so fast, hardly stopping to enjoy any hobby he considered “ _slow_ ”, he had a tendency to get bored pretty often. So, he almost seemed to _relish_ Dr. Eggman’s constant attempts to take over the world. In the past, he’d saved small islands that were mostly uninhabited…or mainly inhabited by Anthros or just animal life…South Island was Dr. Eggman’s _very first attempt_ to take over the world! Eggman had tried to change its animal and Anthro citizens into robotic creatures, in order to build up his army. Sonic had managed to save South Island, but the United Nations and world leader organization hadn’t realized that fact and had the island eliminated…there were very few original inhabitants of South Island were still alive today.

But back to the _here and now_ …Sonic was battling yet another one of Eggman’s mechanoids in the center of Station Square, a large city on the western coast of the United States of America.

“ _Nyah-ha!_ ” Sonic the Hedgehog chortled as he jumped up and spun, bouncing off the two strange-shaped fists of the giant robot. “Seriously, guy…what’s the deal with the latest models of these robots of yours?” The blue Hedgehog taunted, standing calmly on the very top of the robot’s massive head. “There’s _no way_ any of them can keep up with me!” He laughed.

The robot, all of its sensors telling it that Sonic was standing atop its head, had just raised its arms, getting ready to crush Sonic in a single blow. Eggman saw the mechanoid’s motion and just about began to hyperventilate as he realized what the thing was going to do in a mere moment. He leaned over the microphone in his hover-pod, grasping the console tightly.

“ _No!! **Stop** , you brainless pile of scrap!!!_” Eggman yelled, horrified as the arms of the mechanoid came crashing quickly down down.

The large arms crushed the robot’s head so deeply into its shoulders that there was no salvaging it…and, of course, Sonic was _nowhere_ in sight! The very least that could’ve happened was that Sonic would be squished even as the robot smacked itself into oblivion…but that definitely would never happen so easily as _that_! Dr. Eggman whipped his head about, trying to find his infuriating nemesis.

“C’mon, Eggman…you _really_ gotta do better than this guy!” Sonic laughed as he stood in a relaxed pose on the balancing fin of the hover-pod. “I mean, the _only_ one of your ‘bots to ever give me a good brawl was your Metal Sonic! Don’t’ja make ‘em like _that_ anymore?” He taunted, grinning at the round-bodied human.

“ _Why… **you** …!?_” Eggman spluttered, half-turning in his seat to glare at the blue-furred Anthro Hedgehog behind him. The angry man clenched his fists and ground his teeth. “ ** _You’ll pay for this, Sonic!_** ” He suddenly snarled, slamming one of his clenched fists down onto a big red button on the console in front of him.

Sonic’s ears suddenly twitched as he barely heard the high-pitched sound erupt from the hover-pod’s console…he suddenly realized it was a self-destruct code for the robot he’d just finished thrashing! That _definitely_ wasn’t good, as there were still people within the area of the recent fight scene!!! Sonic took a deep breath and dove off the back of the hover-pod, going into a Sonic-Spin to try and get up enough speed to start evacuating people from the area _before_ the robot exploded.

“Hang on,” Sonic said, quickly, as he scooped up a fair-haired little boy—the very same blonde-haired boy he’d passed earlier, who’d watched him with awe. The young boy stared up at him with his dark blue eyes full of admiration and wonder, as Sonic went to reach for the woman who was the boy’s mother.

“Don’t worry, Sonic…we’re here,” a familiar voice responded. Someone instantly picked up the mother and a nearby elderly man, swiftly moving them away to a safer area.

“As always…you’ve got _good timing_ , Knuckles!” Sonic laughed, warmly, holding tightly to the boy as he went to join his friend between buildings.

“I had to wonder just what took you so long to defeat that mechanoid…and, yet, you _screwed it up_ after all,” another familiar voice said with a big sigh.

“Hey Shadow…nice to see **_you_** too!” Sonic chuckled, groaning for a moment at the black-furred Hedgehog’s complaint.

“If **_I_** had been here sooner, that machine would be nothing but bits of scrap and we wouldn’t have to evacuate people like this,” Shadow said, drolly, glaring at Sonic. Then his ears swiveled and he turned his head as he caught a low, strange tone. “ _Wait_ …something just…” he murmured, extremely puzzled by the strange sound.

Both Sonic and Knuckles began to look around, trying to figure out what it was that had suddenly bothered Shadow. The red-furred Echidna tilted his head, to listen, and immediately picked up on the sound that Shadow had suddenly noticed. At just about the same time, Sonic figured it out, too, because he actually saw the objects that made the strange sounds!

“ _Awww man_ …this just _isn’t_ my day!” Sonic groaned, noticing the two missiles heading directly towards them, between the buildings. “Take care of these people, _I’ll_ lead those Hedgehog-seekers on a merry chase!” He said, serious for but a single moment. Suddenly, Sonic felt someone holding onto his arm…it was the little boy with the blonde hair and blue eyes that he’d just saved. “Don’t worry, it’ll all be okay!” Sonic laughed, grinning down at the child as he swiftly freed his arm, so he could go. Then he was gone in a blur of blue.

Knuckles gave a soft sigh…Sonic was already gone before he could give the blue Hedgehog the object he’d brought to Station Square with him. The Chaos Emerald of the indigo color sparkled in his gloved fist as he held it up. “I wish you’d’ve at least taken _this_ …” the Echidna murmured, looking at the Chaos Emerald and then gazing after Sonic.

“How foolish,” Shadow muttered, frustrated a bit by the events of the moment. Then the old Hedgehog saw something else and groaned with annoyance, facepalming himself. “Really, _completely_ foolish!” He snarled, spinning about and snatching the Chaos Emerald out of Knuckles’ hand and gliding off on his air-skates after Sonic.

Knuckles suddenly saw what it was that Shadow had noticed…there was a **_third_** missile that had been launched, one that Sonic _hadn’t seen_! The Echidna turned quickly to the small group of humans huddling between the buildings with him.

“You all need to move further back and try to take cover as best as you can,” he said to the people, then he spun about to face what was coming.

“Be careful… _okay_?” The little boy said to him, grabbing Knuckles’ arm gently, clearly upset that Sonic and all of them might be hurt in this fight.

“Don’t worry…this is _Sonic the Hedgehog_ we’re talking about,” Knuckles said in a soft tone as he pulled away from the human boy. Then he ran off after the two Anthro Hedgehogs. “Sonic, _you idiot_!!” The Echidna roared angrily as he leaped into the air to reach his friends.

Shadow, who was very close to Sonic now, realized he was not going to be able to maneuver swiftly enough to save both him and Sonic, so he decided to do the one and only thing he could do at the moment, with a Chaos Emerald in his hand. He grabbed Sonic’s arm and held the indigo Chaos Emerald up, pouring every ounce of determination and strength into this next move.

Just a few moments behind the two Hedgehogs, Knuckles tried to close the distance to help them, when he saw Shadow raise the indigo Chaos Emerald above his head. “ _Sonic! Shadow!_ ” Knuckles cried, knowing he’d _never_ reach them before the missiles…so, he sincerely hoped that Shadow’s last-ditch gamble worked.

“ ** _CHAOS CONTROL!!!_** ” Shadow snarled, activating the power of the indigo Chaos Emerald in his hand.

Knuckles was suddenly blinded…the missiles hit the edge of the energy aura from Shadow’s Chaos Control action, exploding everything into a brilliant white light. The shockwaves of the blast began to expand out, too swiftly to prepare to brace for them. The red-furred Echidna had absolutely _no time_ to react before the blast wave struck him full-on his left side, throwing him violently back to the ground. The pavement shattered as he slammed into the four-way intersection…and then his world went completely black after seeing the blinding white light.

* * * * *

_He turned to look at the Echidna boy beside him, huddled in fear and grasping an infant Echidna girl. The boy seemed **strangely familiar** …blood-red fur and a crescent moon mark on his chest. But this boy had some other sorts of tribal markings, white and brown bands in his long spines for instance…a leather-and-fur vest and a wrought bronze belt with a knee-length cloth that had a muddy-red and white pattern on it. Then he turned to look at the intruder that had wrought this pain and terror upon the small tribe that lived near the shrine of the Master Emerald._

_For some reason, it was all so hazy…he couldn’t quite make out the shape and look of the intruder, except for the massive, long-reaching weapon that one held. He knew the weapon really wouldn’t cause **him** much damage…after all, he was the **Guardian of the Master Emerald** and he was incredibly strong, but the weapon caused damage to the tribe that lived around here. It made him very angry that anyone would intrude upon the shrine like this…and that they would attempt to cause injury to the others who lived near here._

_He reached back to touch the boy with reassurance, just as the intruder spoke words. The words were strange…familiar sometimes, but not completely. Just as he felt on the edge of comprehending what the intruder was saying, a sudden sobbing drew his attention away…_

“ _Unnngh_ …” Knuckles groaned, struggling to wake up. That dream had been… _what had it been_?

“ ** _Knuckles_**!” A youthful voice cried, which sounded like it had been sobbing just recently. “ _How_ …how do you feel?” Tails asked, leaning over a steel bar that was beside Knuckles on his right side.

“My vision is… _weird_ ,” Knuckles murmured. He tried to move his head to look around, but his neck ached very badly. Suddenly, the deep worry that was in the young Fox’s voice registered. “What about Sonic and Shadow…are _they_ okay?” He asked, trying to move his head again, but this time noting that his vision seemed a bit strange.

“ _They_ …they’re probably **_dead_** …” Tails whispered, sadly, his blue eyes moist and a bit reddish in the white area.

Knuckles tried to shake his head in disbelief, but his neck still hurt a lot. “I refuse to believe that… _Shadow used Chaos Control_ ,” he said, firmly. He tried to lift his left arm to brush his left eye, since it seemed that his vision seemed a bit off on that side…but his arm wouldn’t move for some reason.

“But they _didn’t reappear_ ,” Tails replied, softly. “It was probably _too late_ …” he trailed off, sadly.

“Sonic, you _fool_ ….” Knuckles sighed. If only Sonic hadn’t rushed in as he always did…if only he’d been a just little more careful! “Tails…I can’t seem to move my left arm. Did I injure it?” Knuckles asked, still very puzzled by his condition.

That was when huge tears filled the Fox boy’s bright blue eyes. Knuckles wondered what was wrong… _why_ was Tails crying like that? Then, all of the sudden, Tails looked completely away from him…seeming to be not just sad, but _guilty and embarrassed_ as well. In a moment, the young Fox dashed out of the room. It really surprised Knuckles, **_very much_** …he wondered how badly he had been hurt at that point.

“ _Ah, hon_ …you **_really_** don’t want to know,” a sultry, familiar, female voice responded, suddenly entering the room.

Knuckles _finally_ realized what was wrong with his vision…he **_couldn’t see_** anything on his left side at all! But he knew that voice…so _familiar_ …so, often, **_very annoying_** to him…it was the enigmatic Rouge the Bat. He wondered why **_she_** was here…surely this would be an opportune event that would allow her to steal the Master Emerald! It seemed a bit strange that she’d come and visit him as he was strapped down into a hospital bed. Maybe she’d already stolen the Master Emerald and had come to gloat about it…?

“I’ll fill you in, anyways,” she added, suddenly moving around to his right side. “You must have turned a bit when the blast wave struck you, your entire left side took major damage and you have massive bruising from the impact with the pavement,” Rouge explained.

Knuckles’ face fell, crushed by massive disappointment.

“If it makes you feel better, though… _the pavement_ took some major damage from your fall, too,” she chuckled, suddenly brushing her gloved fingertips lightly along the uninjured side of his muzzle.

“ _How…badly_?” Knuckles murmured, his throat suddenly becoming dry.

“ ** _Oh_** , Station Square Public Works will have to replace the _whole_ intersection!” Rouge laughed.

Knuckles stared at her, aghast for a moment…then he realized she was trying to cheer him up with a small joke, essentially praising his strength and overall toughness. He smiled, softly, at her small attempt at cheer.

Pleased that her little joke made Knuckles smile, she continued on with a more serious note in her voice. “They had to amputate your left arm and two of your long spines on that side. The damage done to your left eye is unable to be repaired…and you’ll have permanent scarring all along your left side,” she said, firmly.

“ _Ah, I see_ …” Knuckles sighed. “Well I will still do what I can to protect the Master Emerald…I _will_ stay strong,” he added sincerely.

Rouge smiled, tenderly brushing his muzzle again. “That’s what I love about you, hon…” she murmured, moving to clasp his uninjured hand with one of hers, delicately twining fingers with him. “You’re pretty rough around the edges, but very strong in all the _important_ ways,” she responded, smiling down at him.

That smile of hers suddenly _wasn’t_ annoying…it was something gentle and personal. It was strange, but he found himself liking a smile like _that_ from the female Bat. He responded with a gentle smile of his own, squeezing her hand tenderly in return. Knuckles realized, for all the arguments they ever had, he actually liked her a lot. Their aggressive personalities often clashed with one another, leading to a lot of yelling between them both…but he found he really was fond of the jewel thief. He brought their clasped hands to his muzzle and brushed his lips gently over her fingers, hoping to keep that fragile new bond between them from being broken.


	2. The Advent of Death

**_Chapter Two: The Advent of Death_ **

It was several weeks before the doctors would allow him to leave the hospital and go back to Angel Island. They were greatly concerned about him being able to survive all alone on that floating island, especially having suffered as many injuries as he had. Knuckles was completely unfazed by their concerns, all he knew was that he _had_ to get back to the Master Emerald before something happened…with Sonic and Shadow gone, Dr. Eggman would probably try to pull some kind of “ _take over the world_ ” move and he may even try to steal the Master Emerald again.

He’d been having very strange dreams, of late. He wasn’t really quite sure if they meant something or not…they appeared to be set in the era of that tribe of Echidnas he’d once seen when they all faced the creature called Chaos. Knuckles had admired seeing the shrine in such grand original condition, so seeing it in his dreams made him a little happy…even if the dreams themselves were a little bit strange. The same characters kept reappearing in his dreams…that Echidna boy, the only one he could seem to see clearly in the dream, looked much like him—despite the tribal markings. Then there was the dark figure he couldn’t make out…the one who seemed to be an intruder upon the sacred grounds of the shrine. There was also the figure of _himself_ …he was very aware of being himself, but he couldn’t see his own hands when he used them. It was quite peculiar…he wished the Master Emerald itself could talk, because then he had _so many questions_ he truly wanted to ask of it. _No_ , all he could ever make out of the Master Emerald’s communications were just vague emotions.

His left side still had some aches and pains, but he seemed to be mainly all right. Walking up the long stairway of the shrine made him use muscles that hadn’t been used in weeks…and made him ache even more by the time he was before the treasured object. As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw that the large green jewel was still safely in its stone nesting place in the center of the shrine. It really _was_ the Master Emerald…Knuckles could feel that right away, as it glowed softly and sent him waves of emotions in greeting.

He smiled, realizing he _probably_ had Rouge the Bat to thank for the continued safety of the Master Emerald, while he was cooped up in the hospital. It really was very sweet of her, since he knew she was probably very tempted by the idea of taking it. Even though some new emotions were brewing between them…he knew that Rouge still had an obsession with sparkling gemstones, though. Knuckles suddenly felt a gentle warmth blossom inside of him as he thought of Rouge and her kindnesses.

Knuckles approached the Master Emerald and pulled off the glove on his remaining hand with his teeth. Then he gently laid the hand on the edge of the large jewel and drew it along the familiar surface of the object he had always protected for as long as he ever knew. Then the Echidna moved forwards a bit more and laid the side of his injured and scarred face against the smooth side of the great gemstone. He felt the Master Emerald’s soft response…a wave of indiscernable emotions against his very soul. It was very familiar and soothing.

“Thank you,” Knuckles murmured, around the glove in his mouth, when he interpreted the waves as concern for his current condition. _‘I’m alive…I will stay strong for you…’_ he thought, firmly.

There were those so-familiar waves, against his soul, once more.

_‘Yes…perhaps for **her** , as well,’_ he responded in his head, as he felt the inquiry about Rouge from the massive jewel. _‘I must find a **new way** …a new balance in which to fight and live,’_ he thought.

Knuckles finally pulled away from the Master Emerald and he somehow managed to get his glove back on, carefully tilting his head and using his teeth. Loss of two long spines around his skull was no matter, nothing more than a blow to his looks (and, possibly, a slight off-set of his balance). It was the loss of his left arm that would cause the most trouble…without his left arm, his punching style of fighting would no longer work. Also, he would no longer be able to climb (using his knuckle-spikes) and likely be unable to glide as well, with only a single arm and the balance that his long spines gave him. Then, of course, he had also gained a blind side…with the inability to see from his left eye from now on…as well.

“ _I’m still strong_ ,” Knuckles said, soothing his own anxiousness and fears with a vocal statement. “I need to work on my speed and maneuverability… _that_ means I need to work on my footwork.” Then Knuckles closed his eyes, wondering what else he could do to make up for the loss of his left arm. He needed something to make up for the reach he’d lost with fist-fighting.

* * * * *

And then, suddenly, before anyone had truly realized it, _a whole year had passed_. Dr. Eggman stayed fairly quiet…Vector thought it may be because the old guy was depressed over losing his long-time nemesis. Knuckles worked on becoming strong and swift with the way he was now…often it would be Rouge or Vector who came to Angel Island to help him out with his training. Tails created a blunt weapon for Knuckles to use…a staff that could collapse down to the size of a nightstick, making it easier to be carried. The staff gave him reach…a longer reach that he could use, even just one-handed.

Knuckles also changed more than just his fighting style. He’d seen how people reacted to his injuries and decided to hide them as best as he could…and still give him ease with which to fight, whenever he needed to. To hide his scars and disfigurement, Knuckles found a style of flowing clothing that hid all and was very easy to move in. The main garment itself was a short robe with no sleeves and a belt-style wrap around his waist…it managed to hide all the scars along his left side. To hide his lost arm, he donned a light coat over the short robe…it had long sleeves. To hide his missing long spines, he wore a desert dweller’s headdress…which also shielded his blind left eye from most angles of view. Since his old athletic shoes no longer would match the new ensemble (according to Rouge, anyways), he now wore sturdy-but-flexible boots.

Rouge never even cracked a joke about the new clothes…she had only smiled and said it made the new Knuckles the Echidna look “ _very handsome and mysterious_ ”. Of course, Rouge could **_always_** make Knuckles smile! She was the one who had created some special accessories to cap-off his injured limbs, as well…he had some intricate gold-and-silver accessories at the ends of his two amputated long spines and at the stump of his removed left arm. It was nice…even now, just thinking about her, made him smile and feel so very warm inside.

And now, _today_ , scarcely a year since that fight in Station Square where Sonic and Shadow disappeared…Knuckles the Echidna was beginning a new day. The only thing that was different was that this new day was going to be the beginning of a long fight for him…and for the Earth, as well.

Knuckles donned his light coat, breathing lightly with the beginning of his morning rituals. Before leaving the warm cavern he’d made his new home in the past year, Knuckles checked the pouch that was behind his back, hidden beneath the long coat. The collapsible staff was there, as well as a few small smoke-spheres that Espio had given to him and some other little tricks that Tails and Espio had come up with, to help Knuckles defend himself. Then Knuckles exited the cavern and breathed deeply, looking up at the sky.

What…was… _that_ …? **_It was so humungous!_** It was…some kind of _ship_ …? But it was so much bigger than that alien spaceship that had been here before…the one belonging to those called the _“Black Arms”_ aliens, who were led by one called _“Black Doom”._ It _couldn’t be_ …could it? The Black Arms aliens were back…and this new ship was so much larger than the _Black Comet_ had been! This was absolutely the worst…Shadow had barely defeated them once before…and this time Sonic and Shadow were _both_ gone! Those others who often stood up to defend the Earth…even they might not be able to stand up against the Black Arms race!

Knuckles’ good eye suddenly widened as he saw a glow on the side of the massive alien ship, which was facing towards Angel Island. The glow began to widen out, in a strange pattern, and then Knuckles realized what that glow probably was. They would _not_ …?! As the glow on the side of the ship became bigger and brighter, Knuckles turned around to run towards the Shrine of the Master Emerald and try to warn the mystical gem of what was about to happen. He pounded up the steps and saw that the giant green gemstone was also suddenly glowing brightly. Waves of reassurance broke over his soul…and Knuckles realized exactly what the big jewel was about to do.

“ _No! Wait!!_ ” Knuckles cried, pressing his gloved hand to the smooth side of the Master Emerald. “ ** _You can’t…!!!_** ”

Knuckles felt a tidal wave of power drown his soul, causing his consciousness to fade for a few moments. When his wits and vision returned, he found himself standing in the rubble of an old Echidna ruin, smack in the center of the Mystic Ruins area on the Earth’s surface. He stared up at the island in the sky that had been his home for as long as he could ever remember…he saw how it was dwarfed by the tremendous spacecraft hovering in the sky. The bright light on the side of the alien ship finally exhaled the deadly beam that it had been building up…slicing straight through the center of Angel Island.

The Echidna’s single dark blue eye began to fill with tears. _So much innocent life lost_ …all of the wild animals that roamed through the various Zones of Angel Island, probably there were even still some of the human researchers there. His only home was now lost…as well as the single most precious object that justified his entire existence. Knuckles could only watch helplessly as chunks of the once floating island began to splash violently into the ocean below it, the debris eventually sinking beneath the turgid waves. _All was lost now_ …his former life and now his precious home. But _why_? Why had the Black Arms aliens destroyed a _harmless_ island?

Drawing on a hidden reserve of inner strength, Knuckles took a deep breath and turned to walk through the jungle growth of the Mystic Ruins. He knew that Tails lived near the beach, at the edge of this area. More… _so many more_ …lives were in danger. Knuckles had to gather up everyone he knew…they would have to rise up and fight, _or else they would all die_. There was no way the Black Arms aliens, no matter who was leading them now, would give them much of a choice in the matter.

* * * * *

“There was some news about that ship a couple weeks ago,” Tails said, picking up a t.v. remote and using it to flip on the television on the other side of the room. He hit replay for the digital recording he’d made of the newscast talking about the alien ship. “I’d meant to come and tell you about it, but I got so busy working on this portable shield generator…” the Fox boy murmured, motioning at the odd device on his work bench.

“How much ground will that device cover?” Knuckles asked politely, absorbing the news report on the television. Astronomers had found the trajectory of the ship on a direct line towards Earth.

“Not much, I’m afraid,” Tails sighed, turning most of his concentration back to working on the device. “Maybe all of Station Square and that’s it…it’s made from scavenged tech, from the last time the Black Arms aliens were here.”

Knuckles shook his head, softly. Well…he’d do what he could and try to save the lives he could reach right now. “Do you have a way I may contact anyone, Tails?” Knuckles asked, turning away from the t.v. and walking over to Tails’ work bench.

“I know I can reach Vector and Amy,” the young Fox responded, scooting his chair over to his computer desk and readjusting his twin tails around the back of the chair a bit more comfortably.

“How much longer do you need for that shield generator?” The tall Echidna asked, walking over to stand next to the computer desk.

“ _Ummm_ …three more days, I think,” Tails answered, looking up into Knuckles’ face. He wondered why the Echidna looked at the computer screen with such confusion. “What’s wrong?” He asked, puzzled.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t read human letters,” Knuckles answered in an apologetic tone. “Do you have a phone or a contact radio I can use instead?” He asked, softly.

Tails’ bright blue eyes went wide in surprise. Knuckles couldn’t _read_? But no…he _knew_ the Echidna could read the hieroglyphics that were in all the old Echidna ruins of the area. He also knew that Knuckles could actually speak many languages, as well…he seemed to learn them so easily, but that was just from hearing them _spoken_ , then? Tails never realized that Knuckles could not actually read any of the languages he spoke so easily.

“ _Oh_ ,” the young Fox murmured. “Sure, here’s my cellphone…can you match numbers to dial, then?” He asked, quickly writing down Vector’s phone number and then writing down Amy’s number on a piece of paper. Even though the numbers were in the phone, there was no way Knuckles would be able to navigate the cellphone’s menus to find them. “You just hit the green button here, it says _‘send’_ , when you’ve put the number in on the screen.”

“Yes, I understand,” Knuckles said, smiling down at the boy Fox. “Numbers aren’t too difficult for me. In three days. We’ll make a stand, then…in Station Square,” he added, softly, dialing the first number and gazing at Tails.

“Okay,” Tails whispered. He was scared, but Knuckles was staying so calm and taking charge of things so easily…it made him feel a bit more reassured.

* * * * *

The next three days felt very long. Everyone on the planet was worried about the aliens, the news reports were full of nothing but despair and violence. The aliens struck in so many different places, never sticking to a precise pattern, but seeming to take out cities or monuments that had meaning for everyone. The militaries and governments of the world were doing what they could to fight back…but in this area on the west coast of the United States, Station Square and the Mystic Ruins seemed to be left alone for the moment. Eventually they’d hit Station Square…it was the city where Sonic the Hedgehog often had been seen—that made it a city that had meaning for many people.

Knuckles had managed to get Vector and his Chaotix team together…as well as getting Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit to join up with them. Rouge had been around off and on, but she gave Knuckles messages that she was attempting to spy on the Black Arms forces and she promised she’d be in Station Square on the day they’d make their stand.

The new alien leader certainly _wasn’t_ shy…he had hacked into Earth television and internet broadcasts often enough and announced his name and intentions. He was called a name that translated into “ _Black Death_ ” in English…and he was here to subjugate the Earth and enslave it, for rebelling against **_his nephew’s_** preliminary forces awhile back. Apparently, Black Doom had been related to this new enemy…they were of the same Hive Family, although Black Death’s ranking was certainly much higher within the Hive itself than Black Doom’s ranking was. The massive spaceship he owned was called the _Dark Oasis_.

The fight was not going to be easy…but they were going to make a stand and give people a banner to rally behind. Knuckles and his friends were going to provide a light of hope for all, even as times were about to become dark and full of despair. This day, three days after he had talked with Tails…Knuckles had assembled everyone from Sonic’s group of friends and companions that he could and they were laying out some plans to protect and hold onto Station Square. They were all gathered at Tails’ place at the edge of the Mystic Ruins.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Knuckles tilted his head, curiously, towards the other room, where the door was, as Tails got up to answer the door. Knuckles wasn’t expecting Rouge to show up here, she’d sent word that she was still trying to gather some information from her contacts in the government. So, _who_ could it possibly be?

“Hey Tails, it’s been awhile!” The cheerful and deep voice laughed. “You’ve grown up a bit, kitling.”

Tails stared at the new visitor, completely awed at seeing an old friend appear right now. Happiness filled his heart as tears filled his eyes. “ _Wahhhhhh…Mighty!!_ ” Tails sobbed, dashing forwards and wrapping his arms tightly around the Anthro Armadillo.

“Welcome home,” Knuckles greeted, warmly, as he stood in the doorway to the work room. Vector, Amy and the others all crowded in behind the Echidna, waving and calling out greetings to their old friend. “Have you come to join our little war party?” The red-furred Echidna chuckled.

“As much as I dislike fighting, this time fighting is going to be very important…” Mighty replied as he walked in and hefted the boy Fox playfully over his shoulder. Tails gripped his arms around Mighty’s tough red shell and hugged him happily. “I was in Hong Kong when I saw the first news reports about the _Dark Oasis_ …I decided it was time to head back here, since Sonic disappeared awhile back. I _saw_ them destroy Angel Island,” Mighty murmured, setting Tails down and walking over to Knuckles, peering into his face to apprise the injuries with concern. “I am truly grieved for you…are you all right?” He asked, moving to put hands on the Echidna’s shoulders.

That was when Mighty noticed that Knuckles’ injuries were more than just scars on his face…and scars on the body that he was hiding with the loose robes. Mighty felt the stump of Knuckles’ missing left arm and slowly pulled his hands away, as if he’d offended Knuckles by touching him. The yellow-and-black furred Armadillo turned his gaze, shyly, to the ground and whispered an apology to Knuckles.

“It’s okay…I’ve adjusted to everything, Mighty,” Knuckles said, sharing a warm smile with his old friend. Then Knuckles drew in a breath and seriousness filled his face. “We’re not sure if we can do a lot at the moment, but we’re going to make a stand in Station Square,” Knuckles said, quietly explaining the situation. “We’re about to leave soon… _will you join us?_ ” He asked, gazing at Mighty curiously.

Mighty suddenly brightened up and stood straight, thumping a fist over his heart. “Count me in, too,” he responded, loyally. He had _always_ admired Knuckles’ fiery will, but now he’d changed a lot…not in a bad way, however. Mighty didn’t know if it was due to the loss of Sonic’s presence…the loss of Angel Island and the Master Emerald…or coping with injuries that changed his entire lifestyle…but he could see that Knuckles had changed greatly.

Knuckles had become a _leader_.

* * * * *

The Black Arms aliens had just started attacking in Station Square when Knuckles’ group had arrived. They all split up, according to Knuckles’ plans…Knuckles asked Mighty to guard Tails while the Fox youth set up the portable shield generator. He sent the others out in groups of two…to see if they could find authority figures and try to save whatever people they could from the new enemy. Knuckles stood near Mighty and Tails for a few moments, before he went off on his own. All they had to do was hold out until Tails got the shield up…and then drive the aliens out of Station Square. The shield itself would mess with the genetics of the aliens and make them violently sick if they tried to approach it.

Knuckles figured the best way to make contact with _any_ of the city’s authority figures would be to head for City Hall. So he set off at a quick run towards the downtown area, but he made sure to pace himself and not to get exhausted before he got there. A few blocks away from City Hall, Knuckles suddenly heard a child’s mournful wail and turned to rush into action before he could even think twice about it!

By the time he skidded to a stop in front of the young boy, his headdress and robes rippling about his small frame with the swift motion, he had his staff out and was ready to fight! He quickly apprised the two medium-sized Black Arms soldiers and determined they were the lowest of foot soldiers, Black Grunts. These types had no intelligence, nor had they any individuality…they were exclusively ruled by the Hive Leader’s mental commands. The commands they were given were simply to kill and destroy anything and everything in their way.

Knuckles spun rapidly on his heel, striking with the staff. The spin of his body gave his arm the extra momentum to put more power behind the single-handed thrusts he made with the staff…it was his new way to fight, adding momentum to his strength. The red-furred Echidna kept moving quickly, both to keep the aliens’ eyes on him alone, as well as to build up his power and avoid any shots from the Black Grunts’ small blasters. From the previous time the Black Arms aliens had invaded, Knuckles discovered that these generic foot soldiers had no armour at certain joints in their body…so, he used that particular bit of knowledge to the utmost practice in this fight right now.

Knuckles knelt for a brief instant and then came up fast with a slight twist of his body, sweeping the staff up in a controlled arc, to thrust it deeply into the neck joint. The recoil Knuckles felt when the end of the staff went through the neck joint and up into the alien’s brain made his entire arm suddenly ache, but he put that sensation quickly out of his mind as he set to finishing off the second Black Grunt just about as swiftly.

Then the Echidna turned to the boy and saw a couple of bodies that the child was sobbing over…a man and a woman who must have been his parents. Knuckles gave a soft, short prayer under his breath for the dead and then walked over to the child. The boy was blonde-haired with dark blue eyes, which were currently overflowing with tears…wait, hadn’t Knuckles seen _this human child_ before? Wasn’t this the little boy that Sonic had saved during his fight with Dr. Eggman last year? He shook his head and gently laid his gloved hand atop the child’s head.

“Are you all right?” Knuckles asked softly, stroking the fair-haired boy’s head with a soothing gesture.

The child twisted his body around towards Knuckles and wrapped his arms about the robed body, hugging tightly and sobbing…much like Tails had with Mighty several hours ago. Knuckles was taken aback for a moment and then just began to murmur soothing words like “ _it’s all right_ ” and “ _don’t worry_ ” over-and-over again, rubbing the child’s back comfortingly.

The Echidna was unsure at how long he stood there, holding the human boy, but he eventually felt a strange tingle in his fur. He realized that it must have meant that Tails had gotten the shield working! A strange, almost eerie, silence seemed to descend upon Station Square. Now…for a time…they would be safe.

_Now_ …however…the true battles were about to begin!

* * * * *

Word spread quickly throughout the city…the shield would protect them, as long as they stayed inside of its boundaries. After a couple of hours, Knuckles had word spread that he wanted everyone to try and come to Station Square’s central plaza area, by the large fountain, if they could make it. Things needed to be said and more things needed to be explained. A lot of the city’s landmarks had been devastated…a lot of buildings suffered great damage…many people were dead and the bodies had been left where they fell. Something needed to be done about some of that right away.

“It’s gonna be difficult to get humans to listen to ya, bro,” Vector said, softly.

“I know…but we were the ones who came to their aid,” Knuckles responded, shaking his head in resolution. “I hope _that_ gives me a little leverage in speaking to them. Now is not a time to panic or become ruthless scavengers…now is the time when we must work together to survive.”

“And that boy?” Vector added, jerking his head in the direction of the young human child that Knuckles had saved and brought back to the group when they’d reconvened.

“I don’t know, yet,” Knuckles sighed. “I’ll figure something out. Here, help me get on top of the fountain—that’s the highest point I can get out here.”

Vector knelt and cupped his gloved hands together. Knuckles placed one of his booted feet into the firm cradle of hands and shifted his weight as the Crocodile lifted upwards. With an easy and fluid motion, Knuckles hopped the short distance up onto the uppermost bowl of the plaza fountain. Of course, with the attacks, most of the bowl had been destroyed and there was no longer water flowing from it. As soon as Knuckles had taken his place and stood waiting for some silence with which to address the group of mixed beings…humans as well as Anthros.

“Vector…are you sure this is wise? There could easily be a violent mob,” Mighty murmured, standing next to his old friend, his feelings of great concern practically radiating out of his aura.

“There may well be one,” Vector responded in a quiet voice. “They’re scared…they’ve lost so much. Do you remember when that eastern coast city was hit by foreign terrorists? There was much fear, for many years afterwards.”

“I wasn’t around, Vector…I was gone by that time,” Mighty groaned.

“ _Ah_ , that’s true, I suppose,” Vector chuckled, wryly. “Well…it looks like no one’s gonna be quiet, so I’m gonna have to get attention for our dear leader there,” he added with a warm laugh. The tall Anthro Crocodile opened his large jaws and drew in a breath, before placing his fingers in his mouth and giving out an intensely loud and shrill whistle.

Stunned, practically every single person went absolutely silent. Knuckles shook his head with a soft chuckle and nodded down at Vector in thanks and, then, he looked out over the gathered humans and Anthros.

“Everyone, please allow me to speak for a short time!” Knuckles said, loudly. “Things are possibly going to get worse before they will become better…but if we all stick together and work as one heart and mind, it will make things so much easier for us all! First of all…I know that there is a lot of debris and many bodies around—as soon as I explain some things, I want volunteers to help me take all the bodies we find to the Emerald Coast Beach.”

There was a roar of grief and disapproval. Knuckles knew what he was going to say next would be worse for them. He knew how they had burial rituals and such for all loved ones…but he was going to have to explain why that was not a viable option for them anymore.

“We are encased in a dome of energy and sonics…this combination of science and alien technology will keep the Black Arms forces from entering this city. _However!_ ” Knuckles said, very loudly and very firmly. “However…our room is now severely limited and we must find ways to use it as wisely as possible. We need the room we have so that we can live… _so that we can survive_ … ** _so that we can thrive!_** All bodies we find and take to the beach shall be burned…any bodies we have in the future shall also be burned! We will hold a memorial for all those we loved and send them on their way to the next life as we give their ashes to the sea!” He announced, amidst sobbing and angry protests.

“Hang in there, bro…it’s not going to be easy, not any of it,” Vector muttered in a low tone, mostly to himself, although Mighty could hear him.

“This brings me to the next point I must make,” Knuckles continued, keeping his voice even and as loud as possible. “I need to gather anyone who has farming experience…or who wants to help with some farming. Buildings that have fallen, we need to clear away and expose the soil…we need to plant food for the future. This means that now…we’re going to have to ration the food that is in the stores and in refrigerators. Perishables will be consumed first and as quickly as possible. Canned and boxed food shall not be used until after the perishables have run out or spoiled. It is my hope that by this time…by the time the processed food has run out…we will have crops enough to sustain our people.”

“ _Our people_ ,” Mighty murmured. “Did **_you_** suggest that, Vector?”

“I said he needs to accept them as he wants them to accept him,” Vector responded, giving the Anthro Armadillo a big, toothy grin.

“And…also importantly…if there are scientists or those good with technology, I want you to help Tails out and try to reproduce more of the shield generator devices,” Knuckles said. “Let’s hope that we’re _not_ the only survivors…let’s help others who are struggling like us. _Only if we all stand together_ … ** _only if we all fight together_** …only _together_ can we hope to defeat this enemy that is trying to crush our world and our souls!” Knuckles cried, tossing his right fist into the air. “We need to choose a small body of leadership…to which people can turn to for advice and information—in return, that body of leadership will keep things organized and see to things such as the food rationing, planting the gardens and the other ideas that will benefit us in the future!” He added, letting his gaze sweep the audience. “There will be an even number of human beings and of Anthros within this body of leadership…it is the only way to see that the needs of everyone are being seen to, without selfishness or abuse of power.”

The gathered people began to cry out questions, arguments and such things that Knuckles had to tune out the chaos of sound and keep to the organized thoughts inside his own head. “ _Please! Everyone! I cannot answer questions when people shout all over one another!_ ” Knuckles cried out, desperately. “I want to do what I can to help…so please…let’s start by honoring the dead and worrying about the other things after that!” He answered.

Vector and Mighty helped Knuckles get down from the fountain and then blocked the small, sudden mob from attacking Knuckles. “Did I do something wrong?” Knuckles murmured, looking up at Vector, sadly.

“ _No_ , you didn’t…everyone is just scared, they don’t know what they’re saying or doing,” Vector replied, smiling reassuringly at the red-furred Echidna. “Let’s start things off by honoring the dead.”

Just then, a dozen people dressed in uniforms of the firefighters and police officers approached Knuckles. Vector and Mighty tensed for a fight, because _these_ were the ones who’d cause the most damage over an angry mob!

A tall, older man, whose dark brown hair was turning grey in spots, wearing a police officer’s uniform saluted Knuckles and gazed down at him. “Thank you for coming to help Station Square,” he said, admiringly. “I understand what you’re doing and I know how difficult it is for people to accept…but we’re here to help you gather up bodies. We can get some trucks and ambulances to help transport them in,” he added.

“Thank you so much,” Knuckles said, tilting his head up and smiling at the officer. “I’m sorry that all of this happened, but I can help out…I have survival knowledge that may benefit all of us in this situation. It’s _all_ I can offer at the moment.”

“It’s more than enough,” the officer responded. “And once everyone has calmed down and come to terms with the situation that we’re all in right now, then they’ll understand that you are doing the right thing.”

* * * * *

“Thank you, Knuckles,” the blonde-haired little boy murmured. Tears had streamed from his eyes until they could no longer even form in his eyes. “ _It’s all…so much…I’m confused and scared_ ,” he whispered.

Knuckles gently rubbed the child’s head. “I know, it’s way too much for me, too,” the Echidna sighed softly. “All you can do is just focus…and _move forward_. But it’s going to be difficult for everyone. Do you have any other family that we can try to look for here in Station Square?” He asked, curiously. He would at least try and help this child find somewhere to stay and loved ones to be with.

“No…it was just me and my parents here,” the boy sighed. “ ** _Oh_** … _yeah_ …I’m Jason Blake,” he added, holding up his right hand to Knuckles.

Knuckles responded to the human gesture easily enough, by shaking the boy’s hand in greeting. He could tell that Jason was exhausted…not just in body, but in spirit as well.

“Where are we going to live…I mean, not _me_ , but _everyone else_?” Jason asked, looking up at Knuckles with questioning blue eyes. “A lot of people got killed…but a lot of people lost their homes…” he murmured. “The apartment where I live looked like it was okay, though.”

“That’s something else to figure out, I guess,” Knuckles responded with a big sigh. Being a leader was going to be very wearing on him, he hoped things would become a bit easier after they’d set up some kind of little council in the city. “We’ll see whose homes survived and see what homes are now empty…we’ll make sure everyone has a place to go.”

“Amy, Rouge and Vector have already gotten on that…the emergency responder people are helping them out,” Mighty said, coming up behind Knuckles and the human boy. “I don’t think people will be very responsive today…I think people need to rest and think a bit on what just happened. I’m going to stay with Vector and the others, at his office building, for now. Tonight, why don’t you take this boy home and stay with him?” The yellow-and-black furred Armadillo said, gently patting Knuckles’ right shoulder. “Especially since I know you have nowhere else to go at the moment.”

“All right, but I think this night will not be very restful for too many people,” Knuckles murmured, giving Mighty a friendly clap of the shoulder. With Rouge busy helping out, he knew that to ask _her_ for accommodations at the moment would be a burden, so he could at least stay the night with this child and rest up for tomorrow…and whatever other days the future was about to bring them.


	3. Survivors in the Dust

**_Chapter Three: Survivors in the Dust_ **

Two years had passed, the people of Station Square had managed to pull together and survive. With brave souls who volunteered to go outside of the protective shield’s limit, they reached out to other groups of survivors and helped them to pull together. A resistance against Black Death and his alien menace had begun. The most recent of news was that Dr. Eggman had just joined with Black Death…Knuckles was severely disappointed in that news, he’d hoped to find Eggman and bring him around to their side. Eggman’s knowledge could help out immensely!

Over the course of two years, despite some chaotic mobs and protests, a small council was formed in Station Square (and, later, other pockets of the resistance followed suit), of both Anthros and humans…and they all elected Knuckles as their leader in Station Square. Knuckles was perfectly willing to take charge, although he worried greatly about the protests of people…all of which had a tendency to make him doubt his own thoughts on matters. But Knuckles’ knowledge on survival was very helpful and quite welcome, once people finally took his advice. And Knuckles also relied on the advice of the council, especially on matters of strategy and revolt.

“Everyone, Vector and his team are back,” Mighty announced, peering into the room, which was the old council chambers in City Hall.

Knuckles got up and nodded at the other council members. An older man, the former chief of police, rose up as well. Then Amy Rose and a woman who was also on the council rose to their feet to follow as well. The four went outside to find out what Vector and his team had learned on their little break-in mission at the old power plant outside of the city. The area _wasn’t_ protected by the dome, but there had been noticed an increase in enemy activity at the inactive plant. _That_ was something that had to be checked upon and, likely, would need to be dealt with…they _shouldn’t_ have the enemy that close to their home!

“What’s up, Vector?” Knuckles asked as they approached the small team of commandos.

“ _It was a goddamned torture facility_ ,” Vector swore vehemently. When he was so very angry like this, it made his powerful jaws with the rows of sharp teeth look so much more frightening to people. “There were Egg Pawns there…Eggman himself may even have been in the building,” Vector continued after taking a deep breath to calm himself. “They killed most of the others they were torturing, but we got _this guy_ out,” he said, gently unslinging the huge object he had strapped to his shoulders.

Knuckles and the woman from the council knelt beside the blanket wrapped figure. The woman gasped as Knuckles turned aside the blankets to see a blood-soaked and swollen face. Knuckles sighed and motioned to Amy.

“ _Check him_ ,” Knuckles said, sternly.

Amy Rose’s bright green eyes widened with shock and horror. Surely they wouldn’t have tortured a potential infiltrator _this_ much…? It took her a moment to regain her senses and she held her arm out in front of her. With a slight liquid sound, a creature slid away from the skirt of Amy’s long red dress and curled about her wrist, looking where Amy’s finger pointed.

Then again, almost a year ago, the Black Arms aliens had tried a similar tactic. They hadn’t tortured someone _this badly_ , but they’d made it look like a victim to be rescued…and it turned out to be a mysterious Black Mirage, one of the few types of aliens of the Hive that could change their shape into practically anyone or anything. The Mirage had taken out half-a-dozen people before Knuckles and Mighty had subdued it, then the Mirage was thrown out of the city and would not be able to sneak back in because of the specially enhanced sonic shield of the dome.

Knuckles watched intently as the small, liquid-like alien apprised the blood-covered human. He wouldn’t let what happened last year **_ever_** happen again. _Everyone_ had to be checked out now…even those who lived in the city of Station Square and may have left the shielded area for just a second. Every single individual who came through the shield had to be checked within seconds of their arrival. _Even every single one of the commando teams that went out._ They had some lenses that emulated the aura reading this little alien friend of Amy’s did, but those were far from perfect and only used by the perimeter guards to check teams that went in and out. Any and all new people had to be checked by Amy’s alien friend.

The liquid-like alien made a weird gurgling-cooing sound and then changed into a unique color that they rarely ever saw from it. It turned **_blue_** … _a beautiful, rich shade of blue_.

Knuckles smiled softly. He’d only seen a couple of people whose aura read as blue…blue represented an aura of a most life-filled and brave being. Surely if a certain blue Hedgehog had still been around, _this_ would have been his aura color as well!

“He’s safe…let’s see what we can do to save his life, now,” Knuckles responded, turning to everyone else. “When he’s in better condition, I’d like to speak with him…he may have information he can give to us.”

After some short discussions with the other council members, eventually all went their separate ways and home to rest for the night. Knuckles walked towards the apartment that he shared with Jason. In the end, they’d decided to stay together for _mutual benefit_ …Jason needed a parental figure and Knuckles couldn’t afford to be alone. With Rouge gone so often on missions, he knew it wasn’t worth it to shack up with her…besides, the distance spent apart meant that they had good times when they were finally together. Jason and Knuckles made good roommates, they respected each other…perhaps it was because Knuckles wasn’t human or maybe it was because he’d never lived with another being before, but he treated Jason as if the boy were pretty much an adult. He _never_ talked down to Jason and didn’t try to hide the worst of situations from the boy. In return, Jason had a lot of respect for Knuckles, for treating him like an adult and not pulling any punches with his words.

“ _Welcome back_ ,” Jason greeted, cheerfully, looking up from the device that was strewn out across the floor. “Tails is letting me see how this old video game system works…he says that if I can figure out all the circuits and parts, he’ll show me how to rebuild it so that it’s better!” The boy laughed.

Not that Jason could play any video games (since whatever electricity was still about was severely regulated), but Tails did little things like this to give Jason introductions to devices and technology. Jason seemed to have a natural interest and aptitude in technological studies, so Tails was encouraging it with the little projects. Knuckles smiled as he looked down at all the bits and pieces of the machine scattered about the boy in a circular pattern…it was very charming to see the child happy. The Echidna had to admit, he was quite pleased to have become friends with this human child…and to spend time with him. Jason brought a ray of light into his life that he’d never seen before…a happiness that Knuckles could not compare to anything else in his life.

“I’m going to go ahead and fix dinner,” Knuckles said, chuckling softly.

“ _Ummm_ …just a sec…” Jason murmured, gazing up at Knuckles with worry in his dark blue eyes. “I was talking with Rouge for a little bit before she had to go out on her mission…she said she was really worried about some people who were talking really negatively about you and the council.”

Knuckles nodded. It wasn’t a surprise…while most everyone had finally settled into this life and its daily routines, there were occasionally some very unhappy people. It wasn’t as if they could make life any better than this for everyone, but they just wanted their _old life_ back. It was just hard for them to adjust and they took it out on anyone they could think of…especially those who were in charge. Even though Knuckles had hoped to avoid such strife…he knew that some people who were upset held a grudge that Knuckles was an Anthro, not a human.

“It’s more than what you’re thinking…” Jason tailed off. “It sounds like these guys want a _new council_ …” he added, tapping the handle of the screwdriver against his knee, nervously.

Knuckles took off his headdress and long robe, then he settled down on the floor across from Jason. “No, it sounds exactly like what I’ve been thinking,” he replied, nodding at the boy. “All of this is very difficult for _everyone_ …and people want someone tangible to blame. It’s easier to blame the stranger amongst you…and that’s _me_ ,” the red-furred Echidna murmured.

“ _But you’ve worked so hard and done so much!_ ” Jason cried, anxiety filling the tone of his voice. “It shouldn’t matter who you are or what you look like…” he mumbled, angry at the faceless people who were picking on his roommate.

Knuckles took a deep breath, closing his good eye for a moment and, then, he looked over at Jason and smiled. “Those odd dreams I’ve been having, ever since Sonic and Shadow vanished…there are times when I’m even more uncertain who I actually am. Even though I’ve filled a void by taking on all this new responsibility…there’s still a strange void inside of me, where my destiny was—the Master Emerald’s presence in my life,” he said, gently, trying to put into words the interpretations of the strange dreams he’d had for years now. “For me to still feel the loss of an _object_ so keenly…it means there was so much more to it. You know…I have _never_ had a childhood, I cannot remember anything except the Master Emerald being there from the beginning,” he explained.

“You think…that maybe…you’re an artificial life-form?” Jason murmured, eyes wide with surprise at what Knuckles was explaining to him.

“ _It’s a possibility_ ,” Knuckles answered. “It’s something that also explains why Rouge and I will probably never have children. We should have conceived at least one child by now, but there has been nothing. If I’m just a **_golem_** …then it explains a lot.”

Jason raised a hand and pointed it directly at Knuckles. “ _That doesn’t matter! You’re still Knuckles the Echidna!_ ” The boy snapped, angrily. “Wasn’t Shadow the Hedgehog also an artificial life-form? People just didn’t like him because he was _arrogant_ …not because he wasn’t a naturally born person!” Jason added, shaking his pointer finger at Knuckles. “ ** _I_** like you a lot, Knuckles…you’re kind and you’re also smart. Not book-smart like Tails and me, but…smart in a worldly way, I guess. And lots of others like you and respect you…there’s Mighty and Vector…and…” he began.

“Can you name any _humans_? Or is your list _just_ the Anthros who’ve known me through Sonic’s friendship ties?” Knuckles said, quietly, keeping his single eye focused on the young human male.

“That’s _not_ fair, Knuckles!” Jason wailed, sharply. “I _know_ that there are humans that like you, too…but I don’t know the names of too many people. I like _your_ friends… _yeah, **the Anthros**_ …much better than the humans. You guys don’t treat me like a child… _I like that_ …” the boy trailed off, sadly.

“Sorry…it wasn’t my intention to upset you, Jason,” Knuckles murmured, taking a moment to finally get back up on his feet. Then he reached down and gently rubbed the boy’s head. “I just worry too much…especially about what people think of me. Because I’m such a stranger…at least people in Station Square are familiar with most of the Anthros around here, but I’m _different_ —I’m not from the city. As far as people go…all I knew before were the occasional archaeologists who were researching the Echidna ruins, both on Angel Island and in the Mystic Ruins. I kept hoping they could help me figure out what happened to the Anthro Echidnas like me…but we never found any real answers. The only certain thing is that there was a tribe I likely came from…they were destroyed when Chaos became enraged a thousand years ago.”

“But you _can’t_ be a thousand years old, can you? Even if you are an artificial life-form…a thousand years is a _really_ long time,” Jason said, looking up at Knuckles.

“I don’t know…I didn’t understand the calendar and passage of time until I met Sonic and discovered a world beyond Angel Island,” Knuckles murmured. “Until then…there were countless seasons, but I just watched over the Master Emerald.”

“Well…it still doesn’t matter, you’re _just_ Knuckles to me…you’re an awesome guy,” Jason mumbled, looking back down at the parts of the disassembled video game machine and picking up a circuitboard.

“Thanks, Jason…that really means a lot to me,” Knuckles replied, turning away and walking towards the kitchen.

* * * * *

Sure enough, it was just as Jason had reported. The next day, a small group of people confronted Knuckles and a couple of the council members. After much arguing, especially on their part, it seemed apparent that their main problem was the fact that Knuckles was an Anthro. They didn’t seem to have problems with the human members of the council…and not even the other Anthros on the council…it seemed to be just Knuckles they had problems with. It was because Knuckles had been elected a leader of the council, that was their sole problem…although they didn’t say _those words_ exactly.

“Very well, I resign from the council then,” Knuckles sighed.

Mighty looked absolutely horrified that Knuckles had just given in to them. He was about to say something, when Knuckles turned to him and smiled.

“Help out as best as you can…you and everyone else,” Knuckles said to the Armadillo. “I apologize that I’m leaving all of you with so much work to do,” he added, looking up at the other human council members.

“Knuckles, you don’t have to resign like this…it isn’t a decision for a handful of people to make,” the former chief of police responded with a sigh.

“No, it may be a handful of people now…but it could be more later on,” Knuckles answered, shaking his head. “I’ll go out and help with the work…I know we’re building the new irrigation channel, so I’ll see if they can use my help out there.”

Knuckles walked out of the council chambers and went over to the south side of town where a group of people were working on digging out a ditch and lining it with reclaimed wood, after which they’d coat it in cement for a channel. The red-furred Echidna walked over to the guy who was in charge, he had sketched out the blueprints and was directing the building of the irrigation channel.

“Knuckles, what brings you out here?” The young man chuckled softly.

“Sorry Jonathon, it looks like I need a job…some disgruntled people wanted me off of the council,” Knuckles answered apologetically. “I know I’m hardly suited to such _physical labor_ anymore, but…I can _carry_ things one-armed, at least. I’m really strong, so carrying things isn’t difficult.”

The young man looked down at him, wide-eyed. “ _Knuckles_ …” he murmured. “Oh, sure…we can find something for you here. _Toby, Jennifer!_ Can you show Knuckles where we’re getting the wood planks from and let him help you guys haul them out here?” He called over to another young man and an adult woman.

The two seemed to be really surprised at putting Knuckles to work, so they were very hesitant about letting him carry very much, at first. Until they saw how strong he was, carrying twice the amount of wood they could both carry, just in _one arm_ …then they were a lot more cheerful at working with him. After taking one armload of wood from the stock area over to the work area, he went back for the second batch, but removed his long coat this time. It kept getting caught in the wood, snagged on splinters.

He was walking back to the work area with more wood when a small group of children surrounded him. “ _Knuckles!_ ” “ _What’cha doin’ out here?_ ” “ _Wow…you’re sooooo strong!_ ” They chorused.

“I decided to do some _hard work_ for a change,” Knuckles said with a soft laugh and a warm smile. Ever since he decided to take care of Jason and everything, he found he really liked children a lot…it was one reason why he regretted never being able to have any children of his own, with Rouge. Children spoke their minds…they were completely honest, even if their honesty wasn’t completely full of kindness. Knuckles wasn’t good with subtleties, so the straightforward honesty of children was more along the lines of his own personality.

“All right, kids…I’m glad you came to visit, but you know this work area is dangerous,” Jonathon sighed as he walked over to see what Knuckles was doing. The kids squealed with excitement and then ran off, after saying hearty good-byes to Knuckles. “They’re all so cute…and they really like you,” he added, smiling at Knuckles.

“I like them, too…I like kids,” Knuckles murmured, grinning up at the young man. “We have to make things _better_ for them…we can’t let down our guard and we have to keep fighting, so that they have a future.”

“ _Yeah_ ,” the young man said, smiling ruefully. “It’s stupid what those people said to you… _you_ need to be back on the council, because _you’re_ the one that’s holding us all together. I know _you_ think you’re not all that important, but you’re _wrong_. You have these thoughts and ideas…that all the others on the council help you develop…ideas that have helped us _survive_ and have helped us start to grow again.”

“Still, this is _their_ home, too…and I need to respect their wishes,” Knuckles said, looking up at the human engineer. “The _only_ way to survive is for all of us to set aside any differences and live together. If this makes them feel better, then I’ll do it.”

Jonathon sighed softly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck gently. “Well, your help here is really appreciated, thank you,” he added warmly.

And so all of this went on for a few weeks, over all. Jason, as well as some others, were a lot more disappointed in what had happened than Knuckles was himself. Then Vector approached Knuckles at the irrigation channel site. The tall Crocodile rubbed his long muzzle, as if trying to soothe some stress, before speaking to his old friend.

“Hey, bro…do you still wanna talk with David? He’s finally awake now,” Vector said.

“Whatever I learn has no meaning…so, can you make sure you find out everything?” Knuckles responded, smiling up at Vector.

“Nah, bro…that’s _your_ job,” Vector chuckled, warmly. “I’m just the _muscle man_ , with a little bit of tactical knowledge…I ain’t good at the inquiry stuff.”

“And you’re saying **_I_** am? Jeeze, Vector…I used to be able to out-muscle you!” Knuckles laughed, grinning up at his old friend.

“Ah, but you grew up, man…I _didn’t_! I’m _still_ the hot-tempered youth I was back on South Island!” Vector taunted, guiding Knuckles to the hospital.

“And _there’s_ a lie if I ever heard it,” Knuckles chuckled softly. “You’re more mature than any fool here…and you hide it very well. I mean, weren’t you playing _detective_ here in Station Square? Or were you just _playing_?” Knuckles laughed. “Thank you, Vector…I’m happy with all the faith you guys have put in someone like me.”

“ _Bro_ …” Vector murmured. “Bro, you are the glue that holds us together…maybe it wasn’t part of your personality when Sonic was around, _it didn’t need to be_ —but now, it’s very natural to who you are to take charge like this.”

“I certainly _never_ imagined things would come to this,” Knuckles sighed.

The two entered the room and walked over to the bed, where the young man was propped up in a sitting position. Even though a little bit of time had passed and he’d been cleaned up, this torture victim still had a swollen face covered in cuts and bruises. Knuckles felt bad for the young human and everything that he’d endured in the torture facility.

“Good afternoon, David…I’m Knuckles,” the red-furred Echidna said, walking over to the bedside. “I asked to speak with you after you woke up and were feeling a little better.”

“ _You_ …you’re the one…the one that General Eggman was talking about…” the man murmured, gazing down at Knuckles.

“ _Damn_ …he’s a General already,” Vector sighed. “That alien dude promoted him up pretty quick.”

“Well, whatever Eggman said is already outdated,” Knuckles responded, waving his right hand dismissively. “I just got removed from the council a little bit ago…something about some people not liking me, since I’m an Anthro and all.”

“Nah, bro…it’s not ‘cause you’re an Anthro, it’s ‘cause you’re _not_ from Station Square,” Vector chuckled, reaching down to pat Knuckles on the head, rumpling up the headdress.

“Likely so,” Knuckles laughed, warmly.

David looked at the two Anthros, his brown eyes widening in surprise of their wry humour. Then he smiled, even though it made his face hurt. Before he realized it, he was even laughing. “ _Oh…oh, man…my stomach hurts now…you two are great._ I…I honestly didn’t know what to think of the resistance and what the people had gone through and how they were holding up. I’ve…I’ve been stuck in several prisons for the last three years…” he trailed off.

“Two…it’s only been _two_ ,” Vector said, softly.

“ _Two_? Are you sure…but the clocks… ** _oh_** ,” David murmured, the tone of his voice going very lower with a tone of sadness. “Yeah…it makes sense…break a victim through torture and deception. Make us think we’d been there longer…hoping we’d break sooner.” He leaned his head back on the pillow, giving a broken little laugh. “I think I _am_ broken… ** _I_** …”

“Was there something they were looking for?” Knuckles asked, smiling kindly at the injured human man. “Something they were asking for?”

“They want to know how you guys are figuring out the Mirages,” David murmured, reaching up his non-bandaged hand to rub at his forehead. “Is it technological or something else? That’s one of the things I know they kept asking me…”

“That’s _our secret_ , for now. But it’s absolutely foolproof…at least our main method is,” Knuckles responded, waving his right hand dismissively again.. “So, what did you do before you were taken by the Hive and Eggman’s troops?”

“I was a research scientist for the Pentagon…we were examining the Black Arms tech we took from the aliens that were here before this new group,” David answered, gazing back down at Knuckles. “I think they thought that we had developed something that could see through the shapeshifting of a Black Mirage…something that the resistance now had.”

“Of course, that’s _not_ true…we absolutely lucked out on that front,” Vector sighed, clenching and unclenching a fist anxiously. “ _Ah well_ …maybe it’s best to let them think something else…but to torture people like _this_ to get information? I _don’t_ like it at all, Knuckles,” the tall Anthro Crocodile responded, shaking his narrow muzzle sadly.

Knuckles shook his head, too. “ _Nor I_. I have a hard time believing that Eggman was the one who was torturing you, though—it wasn’t, was it?” The scarred Echidna murmured, thoughtfully.

“Wasn’t him…it was the aliens, the leader… _Black Death_ ,” David replied, very softly. “General Eggman was just in charge of maintaining prison facilities…since he knew what humans were like and what could bind them.”

The two Anthros suddenly turned their gazes to the young man, intent on the answers he just gave. This man just said he had been interrogated by the Hive Leader himself—the ruthless Black Death!

“You _saw_ the Hive Leader?” Vector asked, very quietly.

“ _Hmmm_ …yeah, but really no more of him than he’s shown in the broadcasts. He always wears the reaper’s robes and carries that scythe,” David whispered. “He’s not afraid to perform tortures himself,” the young man added, involuntarily shuddering with remembering his own torture.

“His stature, though…can you tell if he’s a _particular breed_ of Black Arms? Like a Mirage or a Warrior?” Knuckles asked, curiously.

“He doesn’t look like either…he looks too thin and kind of too small to be any kind of the regular Black Arms group,” David answered. “Maybe about six foot tall… _I dunno_ …it almost reminds me of a human form, you know?” He added, shaking his head softly.

“ _Hmmm_ …” both Vector and Knuckles murmured.

“Vector…since I’m not on the council anymore and you are—would you make sure that David gets a place to stay and something to do, once he’s able to get back on his feet?” Knuckles asked, looking up at his old friend.

“Sure, man…but we’re gonna do _somethin’_ ‘bout this whole council thing, ya got that?” Vector sighed, reaching down and rubbing the top of Knuckles’ head, wrinkling the headdress again. “Mighty, Amy and I are **_not_** gonna hold the whole damn council together…I’m certainly _not_ as well-liked as you are,” he added, crossing his arms arrogantly.

Which Knuckles knew was completely wrong…people really liked Vector, because he was no-nonsense. However, what most people didn’t realize was…Vector still held some small grudge at humanity for what they did to South Island. He’d been slowly getting over it, ever since the aliens arrived and everyone had to live together…but Vector still tended to be a bit distrustful of politicians and military individuals. The tall Anthro Crocodile was a strange role model…he set aside personal beliefs in order to benefit the greater good. He tended to be kinder to the elderly and the children, more often than the general adult human being.

“I don’t know what I can do, Vector…we _need_ to stay _together_ , **_all of us_** ,” Knuckles responded, shaking his head softly.

For a very brief moment, David saw the scarred face…which Knuckles had been hiding with the desert dweller’s headdress. It was very strange…he didn’t know that the red-furred Echidna had been in any battles where he could’ve possibly been injured. From all the snatches of information that David had heard while in captivity, he had never heard that Knuckles had actually done any fighting himself. He simply thought that the Anthro had been wearing human-style clothes in order to fit in with human beings.

“ _Are you…okay?_ ” David asked, reaching out to touch Knuckles’ left arm. Then he realized he touched nothing but cloth.

Knuckles gave a wry laugh and gazed over at the young man. “ _Ah_ …so you don’t know? _Hmmm_ …do you suppose, then…that neither Black Death, nor Doctor Eggman know of these old injuries?” He chuckled, softly, grinning up at Vector. “Actually… _Sonic’s_ to blame for this stupidity…him and me actually being worried about that moron,” he added with a gentle smile.

“But Sonic died a long time ago! You’ve been injured since _then_? But how have you forged such a strong resistance in such a short amount of time?” David asked, truly surprised by learning what he had about the leadership of the resistance movement.

“Friends…and the wills of everyone who wants to live and find a future,” Knuckles responded, smiling warmly at the human scientist. “To some, the physical fighting may be the be all and end all…but there’s _more_ to it. I learned **_that_** the hard way…I used to be the one who’d use physical force to find my way every single time. After Sonic screwed up and got himself killed or whatever, I got these injuries because I tried to help him and I was blown away from the explosion and the aura of Chaos Control. I had to find a _new_ way to live after that…that’s why **_I_** can help everyone else. I know what it feels like to _lose_ …and to lose so badly that you want to stop living.” Knuckles reached over and placed the back of his right fist gently under David’s chin, being very careful with his knuckle-spikes. “Even if death seems to be the option you want more than anything…you _can’t_ do that. Your life is connected to someone else’s…and that life is connected to another’s…until you finally realize _all_ of our lives are connected to each other’s.”

David’s dark brown eyes filled with tears. He had been wishing day in and day out for his own death, all while being a prisoner of the enemy. He never once thought about what Knuckles said. The young man choked back a sob and drew in a shuddering breath.

“Even _your life_ matters, David,” Knuckles said, softly. “And soon…you’ll see what connects you to others and you’ll find a reason to live, too.”

The crying young man nodded and swore at that moment that he’d do anything to help the ones who saved his life and gave him a new life to start with.

* * * * *

It wasn’t even a year before the Station Square resistance began feeling the aftermath of removing Knuckles from the citizen’s council. The first thing that happened was…one of the vegetable crops failed that summer. It set people off and there began fights among people. Heated debates became arguments to be settled with fists. During this time…the _worst_ possible scenario had happened. **_Another_** Black Mirage got past security…

“Knuckles, come with me,” Mighty said, quickly, motioning at his old friend.

The red-furred Echidna slid his long robe on and adjusted his headdress, and then he began to follow the Armadillo. What in the world could be wrong _now_? It seemed so many things had been falling apart in the last few months! Mighty stopped at the primary end of the irrigation channel, which had recently been finished—halting Knuckles beside him.

“ _Who_ is that person? _Why_ are they here?” Mighty murmured. “I may not know everyone, but I certainly know that I don’t know _that person_ ,” he added, carefully pointing at a tall figure in tee-shirt and jeans that was messing around with something at the controls of the irrigation channel.

Knuckles concentrated very hard and realized that he could _not_ place that person at all! It was certainly _not_ anyone that Jonathon had authorized to even be near the irrigation channel’s control area! Knuckles reached back for his collapsible staff and jerked his head at the stranger, silently commanding Mighty to follow his lead. The two Anthros silently walked down to the command center and then Knuckles swept the staff between the legs of the human male, tripping him. Mighty quietly wrenched the arms back behind the man and held him down firmly.

“Who are you?” Knuckles said, angrily.

The man would not answer, just grinned coldly up at the red-furred Echidna.

“Mighty…I do believe we have a _Black Mirage_ here,” Knuckles said, suddenly and in a very soft voice. “I _never_ thought it would happen again, but security has become lax if this has indeed happened again. We can’t do much when they’re inside the shield dome, but we can usually pick them off when they start throwing up all their insides.”

“This is not a good sign at all, Knuckles,” Mighty said, worry evident in his deep voice. “I think this is **_the same_** Black Mirage that was here before…the sensation is…” he trailed off, unable to put his feelings into words completely.

Knuckles sighed, shaking his head softly. “Then this is _my fault_ …because we chose mercy and just tossed it out beyond the protective shield before,” the red-furred Echidna murmured. “What should we do?” He asked his old friend.

“Let’s bring this to the council,” Mighty said, firmly, rising to his feet and hauling up the Black Mirage that was wearing the form of a human being.


	4. The Pains of Growing [Up]

**_Chapter four: The Pains of Growing [Up]_ **

_He turned to see that Echidna boy again, who was smiling at him. The boy said some things that he couldn’t quite catch and then turned about so that he could see the pack upon his back. Inside the strange pack the boy had was an infant Echidna, with a fur color that was a sandy tone…the infant was a female and the boy’s voice seemed incredibly happy when he talked about her. The Guardian of the Master Emerald was very curious at why the Echidna boy had come back, it wasn’t as if he’d communicated anything to the boy…he’d simply watched the boy greet and play with the Chao at the shrine the last time. He’d deemed the boy wasn’t a threat to the shrine and allowed him to remain, but really had not taken any time to speak with the boy at all._

_The strangest thing was…the boy didn’t seem to mind that he wasn’t actually holding a two-way conversation. He seemed to be just a talkative young fellow, speaking of current events happening in the tribe and things he’d seen lately. The Guardian found news of the strange creature that had been seen in the area lately a little interesting…so he’d listened closely when the boy spoke of the black-cloaked creature that had been sighted in the wilderness near the Echidna village. If this black creature turned out to be a threat to the Knuckles Tribe, then it was likely the creature would become a threat to the Shrine of the Master Emerald…so the Guardian considered the news carefully and kept the information in mind, in case he would have to battle this unknown creature soon._

_The boy laid out a colorful, woven blanket and laid the little infant Echidna upon it. Then the boy rose to his feet and motioned for the Guardian to follow him a few feet away from the girl-child. He seemed puzzled, but followed the boy a short distance. Then the boy began to say something serious and the look on his face began to change into a sad sort of expression. He talked in a quiet voice to start with, but then his mouth began to shape in wider forms…showing he was speaking faster and with more emotion…his sharp little teeth showed more often, as well. The small fists, with the strange little protrusions on the backs of them, clenched tightly as the boy’s talking went on longer._

_Then, suddenly, the Echidna boy looked up at him, expectantly…waiting for a reply. He didn’t know what to say…_

Knuckles’ single dark blue eye blinked open. _Another_ of those dreams from the ancient days…it had actually been a number of years since the last one! **_How strange!_**

“Sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” a soft voice murmured as a gentle kiss landed on the scarred left side of his muzzle.

Knuckles tilted his head to look up and over at Rouge. Then Knuckles’ normal senses sharpened up and he grinned up at the female Bat, appreciating her lovely body in the moonlight that filtered in through the window.

“Time for you to go already, _eh_?” Knuckles said with a soft little laugh.

“ _Already_ …? It’s getting close to dawn, lover,” Rouge chuckled in return. “I enjoy sleeping with you, but I don’t want to disturb your pleasant little home here…Jason already gets too many weird ideas in his head,” she teased, rubbing her slender little muzzle against his. “Besides…there’s a lot of work for me to get done before I have to head out on my next mission.”

“Of course,” Knuckles replied, sighing softly. “Maybe someday we won’t be struggling like this anymore?” He murmured, hopefully. It had been a little over ten years now…ten years since Sonic and Shadow disappeared. Nine years since the Black Arms aliens, led by the mysterious Black Death, had arrived on Earth and began subjugating the world.

“Someday…we’ll find a way to win,” Rouge added, tenderly. “Rest up a little bit, you’ve got a busy day ahead of you, hon.”

“ _I love you_ …be safe, Rouge,” Knuckles said with a deep emotion of love in his voice. He held her hand for several minutes before she finally murmured a gentle good-bye and hopped out the window. Knuckles turned over and looked at the small impression still in the mattress, where she’d been sleeping next to him. He laid his right hand in the center of the impression and could still feel a bit of her warmth there.

If _only_ …

“If only I were not a golem,” he whispered, softly. “ _We could have children together_.” The fading memories of that dream lingered, of the Echidna boy that looked so much like him, who had a little girl-child with him. He wondered who they were…those Echidna youths…the infant girl had a fur color that was a lot like Tikal’s…? He remembered feeling a strange fondness for those two Echidnas in his dream. Were they _his_ children? The dreams were still so strange to him…

“ _Agh_ … ** _goddammit_!**!!” An angry young voice snarled from somewhere nearby.

Knuckles’ one good eye snapped open fully and he jolted up in bed. He was most definitely awake now! That was _Jason’s_ voice, of course…coming from the living room area. He got up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling the blanket around his small body with one hand, to at least cover the fact that his fur was disheveled with sleep and… _the activities_ he and Rouge had been engaging in before sleep. He walked quickly out into the living room and stared at the teen, who was hopping on one foot.

“You know… _your_ nocturnal vision is not very good, Jason, you should turn a light on when you want to move around somewhere,” Knuckles responded, walking over and turning on the living room light. Knuckles’ amused expression suddenly turned into one of anger and disappointment as he looked back over at Jason. “You know I have always respected you and your choices, but _this one_ is extremely disappointing to me…” the red-furred Echidna murmured, sadly.

Jason’s cheeks flushed as he held back his retort.

Knuckles walked over and yanked the cigarette out of the eighteen-year-old’s mouth. “There will be _no smoking_ inside this home, Jason Blake… _do you hear me_? I will not nag at you to quit…and I admit I am extremely disappointed to learn that you are doing this unhealthy thing…but I will not endure such an unhealthy habit around me,” Knuckles said, quietly. He was thankful, at least, that the teen hadn’t lit the thing inside the apartment.

Jason’s mouth began to open.

“I swear I will **_leave_** if you argue with me,” Knuckles said, holding in his anger. “I understand that this apartment technically belongs to you, so if you insist that you will smoke inside of this home…I will leave here _right now_.”

Then Jason’s face fell…his dark blue eyes turned sad, with a little bit of fear in them. “ ** _I_** …I understand, Knuckles,” the teenage boy whispered softly, nervously reaching back to quickly pull his longish blonde hair into a short ponytail. “I won’t smoke inside the apartment… _it’s just_ …I’m too anxious lately…and it calms me down… ** _I’m_** …I’m sorry,” Jason murmured, hanging his head.

“Sit… _talk to me_ , Jason,” Knuckles sighed, nodding his head over at the couch.

Jason sat down on the couch and Knuckles stayed standing near the couch. Jason began talking about the latest troubles to occur and the failing of one of the shield-generators in another town. The news of the destruction of a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean. More grumblings about the council, again…even though it had been years since Knuckles had been reinstated as the leader of the resistance in Station Square and head of the citizen’s council. The way the Black Mirages were becoming more and more clever at how they infiltrated the pockets of resistance all over the world.

“It feels like we’re _losing ground_ …it feels like we’re going to _lose_ …” Jason groaned, burying his face in his hands, his anxiety peaking. “Tails and I are trying _so hard_ to upgrade the shield-generators and the aura lenses…to make them _better_ , but…what if we _do_ lose? **_There’s nothing left!_** ” He moaned, angry and even sad.

Knuckles had just been wondering about that earlier, it was strange to hear his own thoughts spoken by someone else. More than that, hearing _someone else_ say those thoughts aloud just made him angry…angry at himself, more than anything! Knuckles bared his sharp little teeth in a feral frown as he grabbed a handful of the blonde bangs and shoved Jason’s head back, gently…staring directly into the teen’s eyes.

“We will _not_ lose…we _will_ make a new future for the children to come,” Knuckles said in a quiet and serious voice, still focused directly on the teenage boy. “I know it seems difficult now…but…we just have to keep moving forward, we _can’t_ doubt ourselves, Jason. As soon as we begin to doubt…as soon as we begin to fear…that’s when everything will start to fall apart around us.”

Jason’s dark blue eyes filled with fear for a moment, Knuckles was **_so strong_** …he could feel the lithe little Anthro Echidna holding back on his true physical strength as he held the teen’s head back. But he realized that Knuckles was also so very, _very_ strong in his soul! He admired that about Knuckles…how the Echidna stood up in the face of fear and evil, fighting to save everyone he could reach. All of his deeds… ** _his words_** …all so very admirable in a leader. Jason wanted to be like _that_ …he wanted to be strong and he wanted to be able to give people hope, like Knuckles did. _Knuckles was **his** light of hope…Knuckles held the light of hope for everyone around him._

“ ** _Yes_** ,” Jason said, finally, firmly. “ _Will_ we win in the end?” He murmured, curiously, as Knuckles let go of his hair.

“It’s going to be rough for everyone…we’ll still lose some battles and some ground, but _I_ believe we will win in the end,” Knuckles said, smiling down at Jason.

* * * * *

Jason carried the box of junk over to the office building that Vector owned and had once called his “Chaotix Detective Agency” offices. Now…Vector, Espio, Charmy, Mighty and Tails all lived in the building. Vector let Tails use the top floor of the small, three-story building as his work area. Jason often joined him in creating new technology…as did other scientists and tinkerers.

“ _’Morning Jase_ , how’s it goin’?” Vector inquired. He looked up to see the teenage boy chewing on the butt of his half-smoked cigarette and sighed. “No smoking in my office, kiddo…you _know_ that,” the tall Crocodile sighed, walking over and taking the thing out of Jason’s mouth, stubbing it out on one of the metal spikes of his armband. “ _Heh_ …by the look on your face, I’m guessing Knuckles finally found out about your little guilty pleasure there?” The tall, Anthro laughed, tossing the cigarette in the wastebasket.

“Stupid of me to have it in my mouth before I even got out of the apartment,” Jason sighed. “How come _you’re_ not mad at me for starting up such an unhealthy habit?” He asked, curiously.

“ _Hell_ , boy…I’m pretty furious, but if ya wanna kill yourself that much earlier, it _ain’t_ my concern,” Vector sighed, shrugging his large shoulders. “Y’all gotta do what ya gotta do…ya just can’t get angry at others if they don’t accept it, though, _‘kay_ Jase?” The Crocodile added, patting the human teen’s shoulder. “Keep in mind that Knuckles comes from a completely natural environment…so, he doesn’t approve of man-made drugs that kill people before their life-span expires. _Of course_ he’s going to be unhappy that you’re destroying your own body because he’s very fond of you ‘n’ all, but he’s not going to interfere because he’s _not_ your _real father_ , Jason.”

Jason seemed suddenly taken aback by Vector’s statement. He remembered what Knuckles had said, years ago…how he wished he could have children of his own. While Knuckles took care of Jason as if they were parent and child, Knuckles also kept a distance from Jason when it came to life’s big decisions…simply because Knuckles _wasn’t_ legitimately his family. Jason sighed very deeply, his shoulders slumping…he _hadn’t_ meant to disappoint Knuckles like that. He’d only started smoking because a couple of his few human friends were…and then he got hooked on them, as the silly drug was meant to do to people. Of course, cigarettes and the like were rare…so, even addiction had to be tempered with moderation. Jason only smoked when he was incredibly frustrated or very anxious with something.

“You really know a lot about everyone, don’t’cha Vector?” Jason asked, curiously.

“It’s called the _‘powers of observation’_ , boy…you should try it sometime!” Vector laughed, going back over to his desk. He sat down and leaned back in the chair, propping his feet up on a corner of the desk.

“No, _I’m serious_ , Vector…you seem to know a lot more about everyone than people realize! How do you know _so much_ about Knuckles? I mean…he never really hung out with people way back then!” Jason said, plopping the box down on the corner of the desk and leaning on it.

“I _learn_ about my friends, that’s why I seem to know so much,” Vector replied, grinning a toothy smile at the teenager. “That’s how I know that Rouge actually worked for the government, even though no one else knew…that’s why I knew that Mighty… ** _ah_**.” Vector stopped his sentence very suddenly and Jason looked about, wondering if Mighty the Armadillo had just walked in the room. “Never mind… _just_ …if you watch people and listen to how they talk about things—not necessarily what they talk about, just how they actually _say_ things—then you’ll see that you can understand people better.”

Jason absorbed that statement and then realized that Vector tested him on that subject right then and there. “You…just sounded like a _completely different person_ , Vector,” he murmured.

“See…ya _can_ observe things pretty well,” the Anthro Crocodile laughed. “I was a different person once…I swap between my personas, depending on what works better with the people around me. Like Knuckles, I once lost everything that was most precious to me in the world…but **_I_** can adapt a lot better than ol’ Knuckles can. I can tell when I need to be an adult and when it’s okay to be a rowdy non-adult,” Vector laughed warmly.

“ _Oh_ ,” Jason murmured, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about Vector’s words. “Hey, Vector…can you teach me to fight?” He asked, softly.

“Now why on Earth do ya wanna know how to do _that_ , kid?” The Crocodile groaned, shaking his head.

“Didn’t you help Knuckles out when _he_ had to change his fighting style? I wanna know what I can do to take care of myself…and to take care of others,” Jason answered, crossing his arms across his chest haughtily.

“ _Nnnngh_ …I suppose I can squeeze a little time into my busy schedule here and there,” Vector relented, shrugging his shoulders. “But keep in mind… _you_ have a special talent, Jase—you’re like Tails, techno stuff comes to you pretty easily. Don’t forget that… _don’t change_ —keep at your special skills, because that’s pretty important to everyone, as well as to the development of your own soul.”

“Thanks Vector…I’m going to work really hard at _everything_. Knuckles has done too much by himself all these years, I wanna help him out now, too,” Jason said with a big grin. “Maybe he _isn’t_ my dad, but…he’s really important to me, too.”

Vector grinned broadly, showing lots of his sharp teeth. “There ya go, kiddo…that’s the most important thing for moving forwards in life—never forgetting who and what is most important to ya!” He said, giving the boy a thumb’s-up. “I heard Knuckles say this to a guy once… _we’re all connected_. Your life touches another…whose life touches another’s…and so on. Your family may be most important to ya, but never forget that the person standing next to ya at the bus stop is also important to ya as well. Ya may not see it, but their life is connected to yours, somehow and in some way.”

“That was _David_ he said that to…I know that David likes to say that to people, Knuckles made a huge impression on him,” Jason chuckled. He knew David pretty well, since the man was the closest thing they had to an expert on Black Arms alien technology…so, David was often hanging about the invention room and laboratory. It had been David’s strong convictions that had also helped Knuckles to fight his way back onto the citizen council.

“ _Lessee_ …I’m free next Tuesday morning,” Vector murmured, glancing at the calendar on his desk. “Stop by early and we’ll see what we can drill into your body and brain.” Then the tall Anthro Crocodile waved a hand to shoo the teenage boy away.

“ _Thanks Vector! I really appreciate it!_ ” Jason called with good cheer in his voice as he picked up the box and headed for the stairs.

* * * * *

Knuckles and Mighty walked to the meeting room in the old city hall building. Most of the others of the citizen council were already there. Vector and the older man who had once been the chief of police came in a few moments after they had. Once everyone was there, they all went quiet until the former policeman stood up and addressed the citizen council.

“Vector and I sat down with the members of our security forces and talked about the sudden increase in Black Mirage sightings,” Charles said, quietly, holding up a battered old notebook. “Once again, we’re curious to know about the number of the Black Arms forces in total on the _Dark Oasis_ ,” he began, turning to the whiteboard behind him and picking up a dry-erase marker. “Although it is possible there have been reinforcement forces, it seems unlikely…as all who know how to watch the stars have been keeping an eye on the _Dark Oasis_ for us. So…once again, it comes down to numbers and the breeding capabilities of the Black Arms race.”

Everyone listened and absorbed the queries the older man made about the enemy, pondering what could possibly be going on aboard the giant starship hovering above Earth.

“One thing we’ve heard from other resistance areas have been that they are finding a decrease in Black Mirage sightings…even though we’ve been seeing increases,” Vector added, folding his hands together before him on the table. “This has led us to postulate a theory that there may have been a decrease in the actual numbers of the Black Mirages…and the dude in charge is setting them specifically against us here in Station Square.”

“You mean that it’s because of the alien that Amy Rose found, since it can discover without errors when a Black Arms alien is near?” A stern middle-aged woman said, her brown eyes narrowing a bit with annoyance. “I can just bet that our alien prince is getting annoyed with that,” she chuckled softly. Then she looked over at Knuckles, who seemed distracted. “Are we boring you?” She said, sharply, startling the Anthro Echidna.

“ _Erk!_ ” Knuckles gasped. “No…I was just worrying about Amy and Rouge, they’re leaving on that mission today…to check on the Las Vegas resistance…” he murmured, ducking his head away in embarrassment.

“And it’s _not_ because you discovered Jason had taken up smoking, right bro?” Vector said, glancing over at his old friend with a toothy grin.

“Please _do not_ remind me of _that_ ,” Knuckles groaned, shaking his head angrily. “Anyways…I’ve been doing some thought on the _Dark Oasis_ , Black Death and his branch of the Hive. Why do they refer to themselves as a _‘Hive’_? I admit curiousity at the fact that their hierarchy is very similar to a beehive, but is there a _‘queen’_ —someone higher than Black Death back on their homeworld? _Female?_ As it seems that the higher orders we’ve seen refer to themselves with a male gender…” Knuckles trailed off. “I apologize…I still think in the terms of a nature-lover…”

“Because Black Death calls himself a _‘prince’_ and not a _‘king’_ or _‘emperor’_ …it’s quite likely that there’s a higher authority than him amongst their race,” David said, simply, gazing at all the council members. “Also…those with low ranks, the grunt soldiers, seem to have no particular gender. Like drones of a beehive, they cannot mate—most likely, I assume. Possibly _only those with ranks_ may possibly have a gender…but you bring up an interesting theory—how **_do_ **they fill ranks? When they breed, is it truly on such a large scale, then? Or does this theorized _‘queen’_ mate with each of the ranked males and those offspring are the crew and soldiers of the ranked males’ own ships?”

“ ** _Ugh_** …I dislike _that_ theory, man,” Vector groaned, shaking his narrow head. “It means the guy’s throwing his own children at us for the aim of destroying us.”

Mighty reached over and patted Vector’s back in a comforting gesture. He knew that Vector was disgusted at that thought entirely, since Vector had once had a son of his own. Then the Anthro Armadillo looked around at all the council members, one by one. They _all_ seemed nervous lately…it wasn’t _just_ Knuckles or the posted guards. Even the human boy Knuckles lived with, Jason… _he_ was extremely anxious as well. It had been ten years since Sonic and Shadow disappeared and almost as long since this Hive of Black Arms aliens arrived. This war, going on as long as it is now, has been grating down upon everyone’s souls…what they needed was something to ignite the light of hope in them all!

“ _I think that we_ …I think we need to do something a bit more cheerful,” Knuckles began, softly. “I understand that everyone has their own ideas of enjoyment, but we should all do something together and encourage our bonds of fellowship.”

“Well, nothin’ works better than a big ol’ party!” Vector laughed. “Back on South Island, when I was younger…my friends ‘n’ I used to do the camping thing, bonfire and stories…stuffs like that.” Then Vector’s long muzzle broke into a wicked grin. “And, if the head evil dude’s paying attention…it will annoy the hell outta him to see us having a big party!”

“I _like_ that idea,” the older woman council member said, laughing softly. “I like that idea a _lot_!”

“Let’s do it, then…party comin’ into play this weekend!” Vector responded.


	5. The Way Things Seem To Be

**_Chapter five: The Way Things Seem to Be_ **

Knuckles strolled down the main avenue of Station Square, occasionally gazing up at the sky. There was a strange feeling deep inside of him today. He felt inexplicably anxious and his stump of an arm had a dull ache in it. He hadn’t felt an ache in that arm since he had originally gained the injury twenty years ago. How strange to feel _anything_ in it now!

The short Anthro Echidna came upon Mighty the Armadillo and Vector the Crocodile talking together in the central plaza, near the old fountain. The two old friends weren’t just talking, they were sparring…it was fascinating to see the two play-fighting, since Mighty was like two feet shorter than the taller Anthro Crocodile. The two were both incredibly strong in a physical sense…in the way that they both could hold their own against Knuckles’ physical strength in the distant past…but they both had their own ways of fighting that were different from each other. Mighty guarded himself a lot…he blocked blows, catching them with his hands and pulling his opponent off-balance. Vector was a down-and-dirty fighter…he used wiles and tricks, in addition to his frightening strength, to halt an opponent in battle.

Knuckles stood and watched them spar for a few moments before addressing them with warm greetings and admiring words on their battle skills. The two laughed warmly and greeted their old friend and fellow resistance member. The three Anthros talked some small talk for a little bit as the sun slowly sank in the sky and changed the clouds a somber color, as the sky itself turned orange and lavender.

“Man, can you believe it was twenty years ago _today_ …?” Vector sighed, glancing up at the sky. “You were there, bro…right in this plaza when Eggman fired those missiles at Sonic. _Twenty years_ …” Vector trailed off with a shake of his thick-but-narrow head.

“ ** _Ah_** …that _must_ be why my arm aches, then…I’m in that place where I lost it,” Knuckles said with a wry laugh. “ _Gyahh_ …I can’t believe I worried so much about that moronic Hedgehog anyways!” He complained, but it was a complaint flavored with warmth and good humour.

“I’d’ve liked to have seen Sonic again,” Mighty added, smiling ruefully. “I was one of his first friends…we spent lots of time together way back before he became famous for thwarting Eggman’s schemes.” Then Mighty turned and looked at Knuckles with concern deep in his dark brown eyes. “You said your arm was hurting, are you okay?” He asked, softly.

“It’s nothing major…just a kind of ache, you know how people talk about phantom limbs and phantom aches? It’s like _that_ …just… _memories_ , really,” Knuckles answered, waving his one good hand dismissively at Mighty, to soothe his old friend’s worry.

Suddenly…Knuckles felt fierce fire sweep through his blood. For a very brief instant, he felt an incredibly familiar sensation of power…like what he felt back on Angel Island, when he was at the Shrine of the Master Emerald. As if he knew what was about to happen, Knuckles looked up at a specific part of the sky. Puzzled, both Mighty and Vector looked up, too…wondering what Knuckles was looking at…when a bright light suddenly exploded in that part of the sky.

“ _Chaos…Control_ …” Knuckles whispered, suddenly moving. “It _did_ work…after all…those stupid Hedgehogs…” the Anthro Echidna groaned, leaping up and catching one of the two falling bodies. “I _can’t_ get them both…one of you catch Shadow!” Knuckles shouted down at his friends.

“ _Done and done_ , bro,” Vector chuckled as Mighty leaped up and caught the black-and-red furred Hedgehog. Vector easily caught both of his friends’ shoulders and eased them back down onto the ground as they landed with their burdens. “I’ll be damned… _Sonic and Shadow_ ,” the tall Crocodile murmured. “And Shadow has the indigo Chaos Emerald…”

“ _That’s_ the one I brought to the battle that day,” Knuckles murmured, his blood still coursing with the fire of Chaos Emerald energy. “It truly is the _very same_ Chaos Emerald…” Then the leader of the Station Square resistance gave a warm smile as he looked down at the limp body of the blue-furred Hedgehog in his one arm. “Let’s get these two into one of the hospital rooms and have them looked at. They’re probably just unconscious from the use of Chaos Control, but…”

“ _Hmmm_ … ** _this_** one’s running a fever, Knuckles,” Mighty responded, quietly, as he shifted Shadow in his arms and pressed his cheek against the dark-furred Hedgehog’s head. “His breathing’s a bit shallow, too.”

“Probably a side-effect of him using Chaos Control…though…it usually never affected him like _that_ ,” Vector said, thoughtfully. “Though there was the one time in his Super form, of course…”

Knuckles tilted his head as he looked up at Vector, curiously.

“Hey…don’t look at me like _that_ , bro…information was my game back then—I bet Rouge can tell you the exact same thing that I just said, ask her when she gets back!” The Anthro Crocodile groaned. “But… _you’re right_ …we should get these two into some beds and proper rest. And then we need to discuss what this means with the entire council,” Vector added, quietly and with a bit of worry in his voice.

* * * * *

Sonic jolted awake and was on his feet before Mighty could even attempt to push him back down onto the bed.

“ _Eggman_! That _maniac_!” Sonic snapped, angrily. “ _I have to stop those missiles!_ ” He cried as he glanced about him. “Wait… _what_ …?” He gasped.

“You’re as fast as ever, Sonic,” Mighty chuckled, getting over his shock quickly and grinning over at his old friend. Then he nodded over at the other bed in the room and drew Sonic’s attention there. “It seems your friend isn’t as quick to recover, though.”

“Just…shut the hell up… _fool_!” Shadow groaned, his voice shaky and weak. “That _damn…Emerald_ …sucked up _too much_ …of my energy…” he mumbled as Mighty walked over to him and grinned down at him. He glared back up at the Anthro Armadillo.

“He’s so chipper,” Mighty laughed, reaching down to pat Shadow’s head. “And such _gentlemanly_ language as well.” Then Mighty saw Sonic just staring at him with wide eyes, jaw dropped in shock. “Look at you, bro…I think you look like you’ve just seen a ghost!”

“Mighty…is it _really_ you?” Sonic murmured, walking over to his old friend. “But… _when_ did you get back? How long was I out?” The blue-furred Hedgehog murmured.

“You weren’t out long…you two appeared last night, _but_ …” Mighty trailed off.

“How much **_time_** has supposedly passed since I used Chaos Control?” Shadow asked, his voice deep and serious.

“Ah, yes… _that’s_ it,” Mighty chuckled, wryly. “It’s been **_twenty years_** for all of us, here on this oppressed world.”

Shadow gave a deep sigh and leaned his head back into the pillow beneath it, staring at the ceiling. “I never thought I could break through the barriers of time using Chaos Control,” the old Hedgehog murmured quietly. “That indigo Chaos Emerald seems _different_ than the blue, green and red ones that I’ve used before. It seems that each Chaos Emerald has its own unique form of power,” he added in a soft and somewhat curious voice, leaning back into the pillow tiredly.

“That seems to make sense,” Mighty said with a smile, looking down at Shadow. “It’s nice to meet you, Shadow the Hedgehog…I’m Mighty the Armadillo,” he introduced, gaining nothing but another annoyed glare from the black-furred Hedgehog. Then the red-shelled Armadillo turned back to face Sonic and grinned. “Shadow’s got a fever and needs to rest for a while…but Knuckles said he wanted to see you when you woke up, Sonic.”

Sonic stared at Mighty again, as if the Anthro Armadillo had suddenly been speaking a foreign language. “Wait up a sec…Knuckles is _here_ , in Station Square?” He gasped, shocked.

Shadow just gave a soft laugh. “Twenty years…a **_lot_** must have happened,” he murmured softly.

“That’s true…Sonic, don’t feel bad when we go outside, okay?” Mighty said, a soothing tone in his voice…because he knew his old friend so well and knew how he might react to this future environment.

* * * * *

Station Square seemed so very quiet to Sonic. As he followed Mighty, he saw how old and worn the buildings looked…they looked like they had not had much in the way of upkeep. The damaged buildings looked as if they’d been scavenged for raw materials. It had been _twenty years_? Sonic wondered exactly what had happened when Shadow used Chaos Control in that battle. And the blue-furred Hedgehog remembered how Mighty had used the word “ _oppressed_ ”, as well. He hoped that Mighty would explain things, but his old friend seemed rather subdued as they walked towards what used to be the central plaza of Station Square.

As the two Anthros approached the large, defunct fountain, Sonic saw a couple of tall humans were talking to a much shorter person wearing some sort of flowing garment. It looked like something a desert dweller would wear…or a character out of a storybook. This shorter person’s back was to Sonic, but then they made a gesture with their right hand and the blue-furred Hedgehog instantly recognized the mittened hand with odd protrusions on the knuckles.

“ _Oy! Knuckles! What’s with the funky pajamas?_ ” Sonic chortled, rushing over to the one who had once been a friendly rival.

“ _Ah!_ Only one person I know has a voice _that_ annoying!” Knuckles laughed in return as he tilted his head left, as Sonic approached him on that side.

Sonic went to clap Knuckles on the left arm, playfully, when he suddenly felt…nothing…within the sleeve of the robe. Sonic was greatly surprised as he gazed directly into his old rival’s face, seeing the old scars and blind eye (that was sealed closed in order to protect it from further injury). Knuckles tilted his head as he saw the shocked look in Sonic’s bright green eyes and sighed softly, turning towards Mighty.

“Maybe you should’ve warned Sonic about my appearance?” He asked of his old friend, chuckling both softly and a bit sadly. “ _Ah well_ …that look shows that you’re concerned—and it’s a look I’ve **_never_** seen on the face of Sonic the Hedgehog before. _I’m flattered_.” Then Knuckles turned his full attention back to the two human men he had been talking to. “Check the west-to-east irrigation ditch…hopefully the problem is there somewhere,” he said to them. “I’ll be here in the plaza for a bit, checking on Miles and the others. If the problem seems to be different, let me know…I’ll go with David and Jonathon to see if there’s a more technical problem somewhere.”

Mighty looked shy and glanced away from Knuckles. “Sorry, bro…I guess I wasn’t thinking,” the Armadillo apologized to Knuckles as the red-furred Echidna turned back to him and Sonic. “We’re all so used to the way you are now, it didn’t occur to me that Sonic might freak out.”

“That’s all right,” Knuckles responded, smiling warmly at Mighty. “It’s not too far, Sonic…walk with me as I go to check on Miles and Jason, okay?” He asked and, then, smiled, as Sonic nodded, quietly. Then Knuckles looked over at Mighty again. “Are Rouge and Amy back, yet?” He asked, curiously.

“We received a message from Amy this morning that said they should get home sometime later tonight,” the Armadillo responded.

“Good, I’m glad…Amy will really want to see Sonic and I know Rouge would love to see Shadow,” Knuckles said. He started walking and Sonic followed, stubbornly staying on Knuckles’ left side—to prove that he wasn’t at all that shocked at the injuries.

As the two old rivals walked the short distance over to the steps of the old City Hall building, Knuckles gave the history in brief to Sonic. He quickly explained that a new Hive of Black Arms aliens had arrived on Earth, led by one called “ _Black Death_ ”…and that Doctor Eggman had even joined up with them, even eventually becoming an Admiral of one of the Black Arms fleets. Knuckles also explained how there were various pockets of resistance all over the world, many protected by the small shield generators that Tails had created.

“That’s a lotta stuff, bro…” Sonic murmured, as he felt a bit overwhelmed by the dark history that had been created by his and Shadow’s seeming _“deaths”._ “I’m sorry you got hurt so badly…” he trailed off.

“ _Well_ …pain fades over time,” Knuckles responded, his voice seeming very grown-up and mature. “And I had many people to support me…Rouge, Miles, Jason and all the others.”

“ _Jason_?” Sonic quieried, not recognizing the name, but having heard it said several times in the last few moments.

Knuckles stopped for a moment and tilted his head to look at the blue-furred Hedgehog with his one good eye. “I know you never look beyond the moment, Sonic…but Jason was that boy you saved that day—for _you_ , it was not so long ago, but for _us_ that was twenty years ago. Jason remembers that day, vividly, even now…you are— _were_ —the hero of the world,” the red-furred Echidna said, softly.

The tone in Knuckles’ voice sounded very strange to Sonic…it _didn’t_ sound like Knuckles at all. The Anthro Hedgehog had never heard that sense of **_love_** in the Echidna’s voice ever before. It was… _the love of a parent_. Just what did this human mean to Knuckles, then? Then they walked a little bit farther and came upon a small group of people sitting on the steps of City Hall, working with some mechanical devices.

“ _Miles…Jason!_ ” Knuckles called, loudly.

“Hey Knuckles,” Tails began, turning his head to look at the Echidna. The youthful Fox’s bright blue eyes went wide upon seeing Knuckles’ companion of the moment. Tails stood up, taking a deep breath, and silently walked over to the two Anthros. Then Tails wrapped his arms tightly around Sonic. “You’re back…I can’t believe you’re _really_ back…” he whispered, voice shaking.

Knuckles noticed that Jason still tinkered with the odd weapon he had before him and sighed softly. “ ** _Jason!_** ” Knuckles called again, putting a bit more force in his voice and the tone was definitely saying _“don’t be rude”_!

The tall, young human male, who had long blonde hair that had a bandana wrapped around it, kept working on the weapon. He seemed as if he hadn’t heard Knuckles speak at all, absorbed in his work completely.

“ _Moron_ ,” Knuckles said, teasingly, with a grin breaking over his slender muzzle.

Suddenly Jason’s jaw clenched as he made a good attempt to ignore Knuckles.

“ _Idiot_ ,” the red-furred Echidna added, amusement flavoring his voice.

The lit end of the young man’s cigarette glowed a bright orange as he took an angry puff on it.

“ _Fool_ ,” Knuckles said, continuing his good-natured taunts.

Jason’s hands clenched around his tools.

“ _Moron!_ ” Knuckles laughed.

“Okay…you said _that one_ already!” The young man snapped, all his concentration completely broken. He yanked the cigarette from his mouth, rising to his feet and turning to the one who was his roommate for the last nearly two decades. “Just what _is_ so important anyways…?” He sighed as he finally looked at Knuckles, but then he saw… “ _Sonic_ ,” he whispered. Jason glanced down at Knuckles, suspicion and anger evident in his dark blue eyes. “Where’s Amy?” He asked, his back going rigid as a board and his voice becoming absolutely neutral.

“She’ll be back tonight,” Knuckles replied. Then he reached up and laid his right hand calmly on Jason’s left arm. “Listen…I _know_ what you’re thinking, but I had David and Karen check them out earlier. They’re on guard duty today.”

Jason sighed softly, holding his right hand out behind him and flicking ashes off of the end of his cigarette. “Well, forgive me for not being as enthusiastic as you, but you may have forgotten that we’re _trying_ to get back the reservoir tonight…” the young man trailed off, absently putting the cigarette back in his mouth and crossing his arms angrily. Jason wasn’t angry at anyone in particular, just in a foul mood recently because of some of the news they’d gotten from other resistance bases. He used a finger to push his glasses up his nose and inhaled softly to try and calm himself down. “I’ve _almost_ got the frequency calibrated on the new sonic rifles,” he added in a much more even tone.

“Of course, the reservoir is _highest_ on our list of priorities right now…especially since the irrigation channel’s been poorly functioning lately,” Knuckles said, placing his right hand on his hip. “And you know I trust whatever you create, Jason…but those new sonic rifles are untested and I really don’t want to risk any lives until I know that they function without failure.” The Anthro Echidna closed his dark blue eye in thought and made some small plans in his head, running through a few scenarios. “Why don’t I take Vector and a couple guys out to Emerald Coast? We’ll see if we can incense a couple of the Black Grunts on patrol around there into a little fight…and test out your new weapons.”

A dark look crossed Jason’s face…but it wasn’t all anger that was reflected in the dark blue eyes. “ _Absolutely not_ ,” the young man snapped, hotly, his teeth clenching around the filter of the cigarette. “Haven’t we discussed this before? You are _not_ going outside of this city for any reason whatsoever unless we’re having a _final showdown_ with Black Death himself!” He growled, glaring down at Knuckles.

“Jason, I may not look like I can…but I am perfectly capable of handling a few Black Grunts,” Knuckles sighed softly, looking up at the young human.

“ _Umm_ …should we stop this?” Sonic whispered to Tails, a little concerned about some of the seemingly angry tones between Knuckles and Jason.

“ _Nahh_ …this is pretty normal,” Tails whispered back, amusement coloring his voice. “Knuckles…well…even though he’s become quite good at it, he sometimes forgets that he’s really more than just our leader—he’s like a symbol of **_everything_** we’re working for. His serenity, his kindness…if we lost Knuckles, the determination and strength of all here in Station Square might break and everyone could lose all hope. Jason’s well aware of this. And, also, Knuckles is very _precious_ to Jason,” the two-tailed Anthro Fox responded.

Sonic cocked his head curiously at Tails, wondering about those words. _Knuckles_ was a leader? _A symbol of hope?_ And a human was important to the lonely Echidna from Angel Island? That tone of absolute fondness in Knuckles’ voice when he talked about Jason…that, too, was very strange to hear from someone like Knuckles. _Things had changed greatly in twenty years…!_

“Listen, about those two…” Sonic began, turning to Tails again.

“ _Okay!_ ” Knuckles relented with a big enough sigh to be heard across the plaza area. “I got it, all right? _No brawling with the bad guys!_ ” He groaned, rubbing his muzzle gently with his right, mittened hand. “I’ll go ahead and consult with Vector and Charles, see if they’ll have a small team go out and stir things up a little, to test out your new weapon.” Then Knuckles turned to look over at Sonic with a smile. “Sonic…would _you_ want to go along, too? Vector can fill you in on a few things out there,” the red-furred Echidna asked.

“Yeah, I’ll go…I _need_ to be doing something useful while Shadow’s recovering,” Sonic replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “ _Determination and strength_ …” he murmured to himself.

“ _Eh?_ What was that?” Knuckles inquired, smiling at Sonic.

“ _Nggh_ … ** _nothin’_** , bro…let’s get things done!” Sonic laughed, tossing a fist in the air.

* * * * *

“Welcome home, girls,” Knuckles greeted as the two Anthro females took seats at the table in the city council chambers.

“Is it _true_?” Amy gasped. “Is Sonic… _back_?” The pink-furred Hedgehog asked, hopeful tears filling her pretty green eyes.

“Well, in a way… _yes_ ,” Knuckles responded, softly. “It seems that Shadow’s use of Chaos Control, using the indigo Chaos Emerald, caused them to travel through time and to reappear _now_.” Then Knuckles looked over at Rouge with a very fond smile. “I know you’d like to go see Shadow, so go on ahead…but he’s kind of sick right now so don’t be too upset with him when he gets all growly at you.”

Rouge nodded as she stood up and walked over to Knuckles’ chair. She leaned down and kissed Knuckles tenderly on the top of his scarred muzzle. “Thanks, lover…” she chuckled warmly, then left the room.

“Amy…Jason is concerned that these two may be some Black Mirages,” Knuckles said, very quietly, leaning forward on the table and gazing at the pink-furred female Hedgehog. “ _But_ …there really is only one Sonic the Hedgehog and I know that _this is him_.” Then Knuckles paused for a moment, spreading his right hand over his muzzle and closing his one good eye. “Besides…Black Death would’ve tried **_this_** stunt decades ago, back when Sonic’s memory was fresh in everyone’s minds, if he’d really thought about it.”

“That’s true, but we’ll go ahead and check him out anyways!” Amy laughed, rising to her feet and flexing an arm in a tough pose. “After all…no aliens can fool my cute li’l friend!”

_‘I know that Jason’s just suspicious because he still has some guilt over what happened back then…he grabbed Sonic’s arm and held him back for a moment—he thinks that Sonic’s **“death”** was his fault,’_ Knuckles thought to himself as he waved at Amy to go ahead and head out. _‘That battle had nothing to do with Jason whatsoever…Sonic saves lives, that’s what he **does**!’_

After the pink-furred Anthro Hedgehog left, Knuckles the Echidna rose to his feet and left the room. He decided to take a walk and go discuss things with Vector and Charles, about making a little test of the weapons. If it worked out, he’d let Sonic keep himself busy by going with the assault team to take back the reservoir later tonight. Knuckles knew that Sonic would _not_ accept this future…he’d want to go back to that moment twenty years ago and change _everything_. It would be likely that having Earth’s hero back where he should be could change everything that happened when the _Dark Oasis_ arrived.

A lot would be changed…not just the possible outcome of the Black Arms occupation of Earth…but also of the other things that had happened almost two decades ago. Knuckles probably wouldn’t have suffered the injuries he had…which he’d received by trying to go and save Sonic and Shadow back at that moment in time. He’d probably still be on Angel Island, too. Knuckles may not have been able to get to know Jason…and he’d still be holding Rouge as far from arm’s length as possible!

Knuckles closed his one good eye and breathed deeply. A lot of pain had been endured in the last two decades. The present was certainly far from being peaceful. But even someone like Knuckles had been able to find some measure of happiness, though, within all that pain and chaos. But, after all…if it saved lives in the end…if it spared pain and loneliness for others…

“ _Save the world, Sonic_ ,” Knuckles whispered, turning his head up to the sky. “It really _is_ what you do best.”

* * * * *

After going out with Vector and the one former police officer they called Charles, they whomped a couple of the Black Grunts patrolling around the Emerald Coast area…tested out the new sonic rifles, which worked marvelously! The blue-furred Hedgehog had become amazed at the survival of the people here in this future. It was strange to hear that, out of _anyone_ in the world, it had been the anti-social Echidna from the island in the sky that had helped everyone out.

Station Square in the here and now may not exactly be pretty to look at, but it was habitable…buildings had even been removed and land had been cleared in order to plant different kinds of food. Even the people had come together to live and work without too much anger and strife… _that_ , on its own, had to be a complete miracle!

“ _Ah-ha_ …I _knew_ I’d find you all the way up here,” Rouge chuckled, lighting down next to Sonic on top of the damaged, tallest spot in the city. “You need to be careful though…some of these spots aren’t protected by the shield,” the female Anthro Bat added, sitting down carefully next to Sonic.

“I figured that,” Sonic responded, turning his head and grinning at Rouge. “ _So_ …I hear you and ol’ Knuckles have something going on, _eh_?” He teased, lightly.

“ _Hmmm_ … ** _indeed_** ,” Rouge responded, smiling very fondly as she thought of Knuckles. “But…keep in mind, he’s pulled a lot of weight onto his shoulders after you and Shadow disappeared. It really doesn’t leave much time for him to spend with me or anyone else…it’s very _rare_.” Then she smiled again, her mind thinking of the times she’s shared with the red-furred Echidna over the last twenty years. “He’s so sweet…so innocent, even after all these years…but it makes him _so lovable_ ,” she murmured, twining her fingers together and stretching her arms out in front of her. “Did you notice his new feature?” She asked, gazing over at Sonic.

“ _Whaaaa_ —you mean _‘lack of’_ don’t’cha?” Sonic groaned.

“ ** _Idiot_**. Not _that_ ,” Rouge sighed. “He _smiles_ now.”

Sonic’s green eyes widened in surprise. Knuckles had smiled in the past, hadn’t he? Well, a weird, feral grin…Sonic supposed. So…Knuckles _smiled_ now? Then the blue-furred Hedgehog remembered that fond tone of voice when Knuckles spoke of Jason. **_Love_** …it was definitely _“ **love** ”._

“He’s learned to smile…even when he’s actually hurting deep inside,” Rouge said, softly. “He smiles so that he can reassure others. He smiles to be kind. He smiles because he _loves_ , now.”

“ _Yeah_ …I kinda noticed his new attitude, at least,” Sonic chuckled, softly. “ _Ugh_ …it does bug me that he got hurt like that, though…and _this_ weird future happened!” Sonic growled, reaching out and kicking a crumbling corner of the rooftop.

“I know that I probably shouldn’t say this…but I will,” Rouge said as she stood up. “I know that you’ll do what you can to get back to the past, but I want you to realize that you’ll be taking something away from Knuckles by doing that.” Rouge stretched out her wings and gazed down at Sonic. “Amy Rose needs to see you, all right?” She added, before she flew off…low and swerving between the buildings.

_‘ **Taking** something from Knuckles? Well… **maybe** , but…’_ Sonic thought as he got to his feet as well. _‘He **does** still have all of us back there…and it doesn’t settle well with me that he got hurt like **that**!’_ He thought as he hopped down from the top of the building and almost ran smack into Amy Rose. “ _Uhh…ummm…hey, Amy_ …” Sonic began, nervously, when he saw the female Hedgehog smiling at him. “You know…blue’s not really your color…” he added when he looked over the long-skirted dress she was wearing. She looked _so grown up_ now…

“But it’s _your_ color, Sonic, and _no one else’s_!” Amy replied, tears in her eyes as she hugged Sonic very hard. “I _knew_ …I _just knew_ Knuckles was right! His instincts are still the sharpest of everyone I know…even my little pal’s!” She sobbed.

“ _Hunh?_ ” Sonic murmured, pulling away from the pink-furred Hedgehog and seeing that the long-skirted dress was now a rich, red color. “ _Whoa!_ What is **_that_**?!” He gasped, seeing the liquid-like creature that was now wrapped around Amy’s shoulders.

“ _My adorable little friend!_ ” Amy laughed, rubbing a spot of the liquid that looked like it might be a head. “He’s so sweet…the Black Arms nasties had him enslaved, until they got to Earth here. Somehow he escaped the _Dark Oasis_ and found me. We’re good friends…and he’s so helpful, he can read anyone’s aura. _That’s_ why he changes colors…sometimes he slides over the exterior of my dress when we’re out on secret missions and all.”

“ _Oooookay_ …but don’t the baddies miss this guy, then?” Sonic asked, puzzled.

“ _Eh…who cares!_ ” Amy chuckled, grinning at the blue-furred Hedgehog. “Because of him, Tails and Jason were able to make the aura lenses that we use, too,” she added with a dismissive shrug. “There are members of this Hive that can change shape…if it weren’t for my friend, it’s possible the resistance could’ve been completely crushed by now.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Sonic murmured. “ ** _Um_** , ya wanna fill me in? Rouge just kinda threatened me about going back to the past and changing things, ‘cause she said it’d hurt Knuckles!”

Amy groaned and rubbed her forehead. “You really _are_ a moron sometimes…how could you not have noticed how happy Knuckles is?” She snapped, punching Sonic in the arm, playfully. “It doesn’t matter…somehow, for someone, there’d be suffering, regardless of anything that you did. It may not have been fun-and-games when Black Death showed up with his Hive, but there’ve been a few things that have become special for people. Things that probably would never have happened, except in _this_ particular situation.”

“I get that, right? But even Knuckles would want me to save the greatest amount of lives that I could…” Sonic trailed off, getting upset and annoyed.

“Yes, but…” Amy began, so softly and with a tone of sadness in her gentle voice, “…Knuckles is no longer _alone_.”

“But Amy…he _never was_ alone…there was…” Sonic snapped, exasperated and throwing up his hands.

“Knuckles _has a family_ now,” Amy said, just as simply as possible, so that Sonic may finally understand. “Knuckles has Rouge…and he has Jason…and there’s also Mighty and Vector and everyone else. It’s _not just_ a great, big green gemstone anymore…there are _real_ _people_ all around him.”

Sonic was about to argue further when finally Amy’s words sank in. There was no longer an island floating in the sky for Knuckles to keep himself cooped up upon. The red-furred Echidna was surrounded by living people and not just the Master Emerald. The ancient gem was indeed precious to Knuckles…it seemed to _define_ his entire existence…but it _wasn’t_ a living person. So long as the Master Emerald existed, Knuckles would _always and forever_ be tied to it…but now there were people that needed him. The Anthro Echidna seemed to have finally escaped his inescapable destiny… _he loved and was beloved in return_.

“Alright, Amy…I finally get it, but…I cannot let this dark future exist if I can prevent it by going back there,” Sonic finally said. Then he smiled and reached out gentle fingers to brush the long line of Amy’s small muzzle. “Ya turned out really pretty, Amy.”

“It’s a shame I had to wait _twenty years_ to hear that from you, Sonic,” Amy chuckled, ruefully, holding Sonic’s hand against her cheek with one of her own. “Losing you hurt a lot of people…even Knuckles.”

“ _Sorry_ ,” Sonic murmured. “Ya know…I _was_ happy to see _Mighty_ , though. It’s been forever…I wonder where he’s at, back then?” He said, thoughtfully

“Yeah…it was strange when he showed up,” Amy laughed, warmly. “He said it was because he saw the destruction of Angel Island on television and came back to see how Knuckles was doing…and see what he could do to help out. Knuckles is incredibly grateful for Mighty’s presence…because we all know he has a blind side now and Mighty makes up for that.”

* * * * *

Knuckles left his headdress and long coat on a bench outside of the hospital room and then entered quietly. He knew Shadow was awake, he could easily sense it, but he didn’t want to disturb the old Hedgehog if he were still in a somewhat angry mood. As the red-furred Echidna stood in the doorway for a moment, he saw that Shadow had just swung his legs over the edge of the bed and was trying to get up on his feet. Because Shadow was concentrating so hard on standing without wobbling, the black-furred Hedgehog didn’t sense Knuckles come into the room whatsoever.

“You’re just as stubborn as a certain _blue_ Hedgehog I know,” Knuckles finally said, with a soft tone of laughter in his deep voice.

In less than a second, Shadow was in front of Knuckles, with a hand tight around the Echidna’s throat. Just as Shadow was about to make a verbal threat, he felt a light stab of something very sharp against his stomach. The red-and-black-furred Hedgehog glanced down and saw the mittened fist, with its sharp knuckle-spikes, held firm against his belly.

“For someone so obviously battle-scarred, you apparently still have keen senses and sharp reflexes,” Shadow murmured, removing his hand from Knuckles’ throat.

“True…although these scars are _not_ from battle,” Knuckles said, smiling at Shadow. “They are yours and Sonic’s fault—I went after you, because I thought you were going to be too late with Chaos Control,” he explained, quietly. “The missiles hit the aura of your Chaos Control and exploded, I was caught in the blast wave… _unfortunately_.”

“That was extremely foolish of you to do that,” Shadow snorted, turning away from Knuckles and then rubbing his head when he felt a light wave of nausea.

“I was worried about _my friends_ , I certainly didn’t think of any _problems_ that would happen!” Knuckles laughed, walking around the Hedgehog to look Shadow in the eyes. “ _That’s_ the indigo Chaos Emerald you took from me…I recognized it instantly, it still echoes with a bit of the Master Emerald’s aura,” he explained in a very serious voice. “Even though you’re here now…it’s _still alive_ and that’s given me an immense amount of hope.”

“What do you mean?” Shadow snapped, his red eyes narrowing as he appraised the scarred Echidna.

“Time travel or not…those objects are _not static_ ,” Knuckles explained, striding over to the window, gazing outside. “The fact that this indigo Chaos Emerald is _still alive_ when the Master Emerald has been believed to be destroyed…it defies all logic. There is the mantra I was given…”

“You mean that server and controller prayer you used on board of the _ARK_?” Shadow inquired, crossing his arms and closing his eyes to fight against the constant waves of dizziness that was assaulting him. He leaned back on the edge of the bed to steady himself.

“ ** _Prayer_** _…indeed_ ,” Knuckles responded, with a wry laugh, as he turned back to face Shadow again. “Maybe we can eventually search the seas for the remnants of the Master Emerald? Having true closure would be good for me.” Then Knuckles walked over and stood in front of the old Hedgehog. “The indigo Chaos Emerald sapped you pretty badly…I think you need to get a bit more rest.”

“ _I’m fine!_ ” Shadow snapped, furiously, leaping upright to his feet once more.

Quicker than Shadow thought Knuckles could move, the red-furred Echidna swept behind him and tripped him…pinning the black-furred Hedgehog to the ground. Knuckles planted a booted foot in the center of Shadow’s back and knelt a little to shove his fist against the back of the Hedgehog’s neck, easily avoiding the sharp quills.

“ _Is that so?_ You’re _so_ healthy that a half-blind, partially-crippled Echidna just slammed you to the floor in two seconds,” Knuckles said in a cool and even tone. “Let me tell you something…you’re **_not_** just feeling the after-effects of using that Chaos Emerald, you have Black Arms blood and genetics in your body—our shield is keeping you dizzy and feverish because of that. _That’s what it does_ to Black Arms aliens.”

Shadow struggled for a moment and then Knuckles’ words sunk in. “Half-blind and partially-crippled…and, yet, I get the feeling that you’re _so much stronger_ than the Echidna we left back in the past,” he chuckled…a strange laugh that was foreign to him, one filled with warmth and amusement. “I see the situation, now. You’re right, I _do_ need to rest…but it shouldn’t take me long to adapt to your shield, because I _also_ have human blood and genetics inside of me, as well,” Shadow added in a quiet voice.

“I suppose _that’s_ true as well,” Knuckles laughed, helping Shadow get to his feet. Then he gave the old Hedgehog a gentle push back towards the bed. “I worry that Black Death already knows you’re here…he’s _much stronger_ than Black Doom was. It’s only the light of hope that keeps us all going now.”

“Light of hope, _eh_?” Shadow responded, chuckling wryly. “That’s funny, because Rouge says _you_ are the light of hope.”

“ _Ah_ …she is so sweet and sentimental,” Knuckles responded, stopping in the doorway. “It really would’ve been nice if we could’ve had some children together.”

Shadow looked over at Knuckles, puzzled by the statement.

“I am no one’s light of hope…I am nothing more than the Master Emerald’s protective golem,” Knuckles murmured in reply to Shadow’s unspoken question. “Without its master, this golem is simply protecting what’s been set before it. _This golem’s life is limited without its master_.”

Shadow seemed very surprised by Knuckles’ words—spoken so simply, yet also with so many layers of sadness and ache in his voice. He never thought he’d meet another being who might be like himself…with so little knowledge of a past and feeling so uncertain of a future. “Perhaps more than anyone else may understand what you’ve said…I believe that **_I_** do,” Shadow said, quietly. “But even a _golem_ may serve a higher purpose…and so long as you are alive, you may even _evolve_ beyond being _just_ a golem,” he added, gazing directly at Knuckles.

“You may be right,” Knuckles responded, chuckling softly. “Rest up, conserve your energy…so you’ll probably be able to go back to the past.” Then Knuckles turned and walked out of the room. He stopped and reached down to pick up his long coat and headdress off of the bench when he felt a familiar presence beside him.

“You didn’t have to say _that_ ,” Mighty murmured as he took Knuckles’ coat and held it up for his old friend to slide his arm and stump-of-an-arm into. “ _Just because you_ …”

“Mighty, I am saying nothing that is not true,” Knuckles whispered softly, in return. “I understand that everyone has held me up as a symbol…and I am trying hard _to be_ that symbol for them, because I know they _need_ it…but I’m not even a real person,” he added as he carefully adjusted the headdress on his head with one hand. “ _Thank you_ ,” he said, smiling at his old friend.

The two Anthros walked out of the hospital, in subdued silence. Mighty’s silence was mainly because he was deeply worried about Knuckles, but Knuckles’ silence had a strange pensiveness to it. Suddenly Knuckles stopped on the corner, right before they’d cross the street on their way to the central plaza.

“I’ve been thinking…if it’s true that when they return to the past, all of this will be changed…maybe there’s something we can do now to carve a positive path back for them,” Knuckles said, suddenly.

“What do you mean? Finding the Chaos Emeralds?” Mighty asked, puzzled by Knuckles’ sudden positive vibe.

Knuckles laughed softly and tilted his head so he could gaze at Mighty with his one good eye. “You know how Jason always tells me that he won’t let me fight unless it’s the big showdown with Black Death?” He said, an old and familiar feral grin on his slim muzzle. “I think that perhaps it’s time Death and I had a chat…” he trailed off with a wry laugh.

Mighty’s dark brown eyes went wide and filled with an odd emotion…one that Knuckles had never seen before from his old friend. “Please… _don’t_ say things like that…!” Mighty whispered, fiercely. “Whether you are a golem or whatever…you are _my_ friend, you are _Rouge’s_ lover and you are _Jason’s_ father! You are so important to so many people…you really _are_ our light of hope,” Mighty murmured, gently raising his hands and placing the gloved palms lightly around the sides of Knuckles’ face, gazing intensely at him. “Because of you, we have _all_ gained an immense determination to live…and strength to keep fighting for a better future. Because _you_ made people come together…work together, live together— _you_ gave them a banner to rally behind… _you_ …”

Knuckles finally saw it…the singular brilliant emotion that Mighty had been hiding for so many years. With that light touch, even through those soft white gloves of his, Knuckles felt Mighty’s warm kindness and fierce devotion. _And his love_. The red-furred Echidna closed his eyes and relished all those emotions for a moment, smiling ruefully that he’d been blind to those feelings of his old friend’s for so very long. _No_ …Knuckles had certainly never expected to realize that Mighty felt so strongly…like _that_. Even to stand beside him and support him as he grew deeper in his relationship with Rouge the Bat…! _Ahh_ …Mighty was so very kind and loving!

“As usual…you remind me what paths I need to take, Mighty,” Knuckles finally said, the tone of his voice indicating that he finally understood why the Anthro Armadillo had always stood so firmly at his side. He raised his right arm and placed his hand gently on the Armadillo’s shell, above where the neck should be. “Thank you…for _everything_ …for so many years. I hope that I can stay worthy of your kindness and faith. And your love.”

Mighty turned his head away slowly, his muzzle coloring a light pink in embarrassment. “I’ve tried _so hard_ not to let **_that_ **slip, bro…” he murmured, sighing softly. “ _Oh well_ …just remember, I’ll always be here for you and I’ll always watch your back,” Mighty added, grinning at Knuckles. “Don’t tell Rouge, okay? She may be a bit _jealous_ …” he trailed off, chuckling softly.

“Don’t worry about _that_ ,” Knuckles said with his usual smile. “ _Ah_ , Amy…how’s Sonic doing?” He asked of the pink-furred Hedgehog as she crossed the street towards them.

“He’s restless, _of course_!” Amy laughed warmly. “More than anything, he wants to get back to the past and stop this whole thing from happening…he _actually_ feels really bad for what happened to you,” she added, smiling at Knuckles. “Lemme guess…you talked to Shadow and he tried even your incredible patience?” She asked, a bit puzzled by the Anthro Echidna’s pensiveness.

“Perhaps a little,” Knuckles responded, laughing softly. “But now I’m off to brief our hit squad, or else Jason will complain that I’ve forgotten about the reservoir _again_ ,” he added. “I’m hoping that Sonic can burn off a little more of his energy by going with them.”

“Good luck with _that_!” Amy laughed, grinning at the two Anthros. “Well…I’ll be off then, see you guys later!” She called back to them as she walked off towards her apartment.

Mighty and Knuckles headed for the plaza and found everyone was already there waiting on them. Even Sonic was already there, pacing a rut into the area around the fountain. Vector saw the two and held up an arm, pointing to the watch he didn’t actually have, grinning a big toothy grin at them.

“Running a bit late there, fearless leader,” Vector teased.

“I know…I was sharing lectures with a certain angsty Hedgehog, that’s all,” Knuckles answered, smiling up at Vector and waving his right hand in a dismissive gesture. “Sonic, do you still want to go with the team to the reservoir?” He asked, turning to the blue-furred Hedgehog.

“Yeah, I can’t just sit around while Shadow sleeps the whole time—not to mention I really don’t trust my own ability to invoke Chaos Control to get back to the past in one piece,” the hero of the world sighed, giving a mild shrug of his shoulders.

Knuckles nodded and then gave the small group a basic outline for the plan to take back the reservoir. The leader of the Station Square resistance added Sonic easily into his plans and then turned to Vector and a taller human male, who had a firm build and brown hair with brown eyes.

“Vector, David…I want you both to pay close attention to what kind of guards are at the reservoir,” Knuckles said, firmly, holding both of their gazes. “If there are just Oaks, Grunts or Wings…you guys should be able to handle them without too much trouble,” he said in a very serious tone. “However…if there are Volts, Assassins or Hawks—call off the strike _immediately_ , it’s not worth the potential causalties.”

“Got it,” David said, nodding down at Knuckles. “We should also stay alert for Mirages—if the plans leaked out or they’re suddenly anticipating us taking the reservoir back, they may very well take the chance to infiltrate us by posing as one of us.”

Sonic cocked his head, quizzically. “ _Ummm_ …why not take one of those lens thingies that Amy told me about?” He asked, curiously.

“Unfortunately, we _can’t_ risk them getting damaged,” Espio explained in his soft and quiet voice. “They’re extremely hard for Jason and Tails to make…and we have so few of them scattered amongst the other resistance groups that we’ve managed to keep contact with.”

“Ah, I get it now,” Sonic responded, nodding at the Anthro Chameleon. “Is there some other way we’ll know if there’s an imposter in the group that’s going out or something?” He asked.

“We have a password system,” Knuckles explained, simply. “Before we go out on missions, I assign passwords to everyone in the group…only Vector as one of our heads of security…has _all_ of the passwords and the counterpasswords that he gives back to you. Charles is also one of the few that has all the passwords. If, for some reason, Vector _cannot_ give you back a counterpassword—that’s how you’ll know if _he’s_ an imposter.” Then Knuckles walked around the small group…which consisted of Sonic, Vector, David, Espio and three other human resistance members. The other three humans were two young men and an older, scarred woman who used to work for the Station Square Police Department, named Jessica.

Then Sonic watched carefully as Knuckles finally got around to him. His old friend leaned in close to whisper the password…

“No matter what happens, _don’t_ be reckless,” Knuckles murmured, very softly. “Your password will be _Angel Island_ …and Vector shall respond with _South Island_. Do you understand? Please follow the plan as best as you can. I know it will be difficult for you, since you’re used to doing things on your own…but we’ve all survived by _relying_ on one another and _working together_ , it’s very important to all of us,” Knuckles added, a quiet and serious tone in his voice.

“Yeah, I got it,” Sonic responded, grinning at his old friend. “I’m the big surprise backup!” He laughed, giving Knuckles a thumb’s-up.

Knuckles laughed in return. “Everyone, be safe and please come home together,” he said to the group.

* * * * *

As he returned to the apartment that he shared with Jason, Knuckles found himself rubbing his shoulder…which had suddenly begun aching again. It was strange…he could attribute that it had done so the other night when Sonic and Shadow had appeared—the aura of the indigo Chaos Emerald has affected his blood, of course. But the sensation had died down over the course of the day, when the Chaos Emerald had settled down to normal. His shoulder and the stump of his arm had suddenly started aching again and he couldn’t figure out why…had more Chaos Emeralds finally become attuned to the one that had been charged with energy when the two Hedgehogs appeared in the middle of the night?

Knuckles hung his long coat up on the rack that was behind the door, Jason’s winter coat was hanging there as well. Winter…that’s what the ache felt like…winter on Angel Island—the Master Emerald had always hummed with energy the whole winter. It made Knuckles’ blood feel fired and active constantly. The red-furred Echidna sighed and strode across the room, towards his bedroom, but stopped when he saw the light on in Jason’s room. Quietly he peered in to see the young man was sleeping at his drafting table. Knuckles smiled and pulled the throw blanket off of Jason’s bed and then he draped it over his young roommate’s shoulders.

_‘I know this is all for the best…but a part of me feels incredibly sad that I will likely never know these people for whom I’ve become a part of their lives,’_ the Anthro Echidna thought to himself. He used the edged fingertips of his glove to lightly brush Jason’s bearded jawline, being so quiet and so soft, so as if to not wake the young human up. “Thank you for taking care of me for all these years,” he whispered, nothing but love and warmth in his voice.

Then Knuckles turned out the light on the drafting table and hit the switch for the bedroom light as he walked out of the doorway, but he left the light in the hallway on, in case Jason woke up in the middle of the night. Then he walked towards his own room, rubbing his aching shoulder some more. Suddenly Knuckles felt… _he had to find them_. If the Chaos Emeralds still did exist and they were awakening because of the presence of the indigo Chaos Emerald from the past…then Knuckles knew he had to find them and keep them out of the hands of the Black Arms aliens.

“I suppose, after all…I _am_ just a golem,” Knuckles said to himself with a short, derisive chuckle. “And, I suppose, I was programmed to protect them all—the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald.”

“You know, I _hate_ when you talk like that, hon…” a familiar voice sighed from the windowsill.

Knuckles looked over to see Rouge perched in the window. He walked over to the window and held his hand out for her, inviting her into the room and his presence. She smiled down at him as she placed her slender, gloved hand within the grip of his.

“This is something I’ve been thinking about since those two showed up…I want to meet our enemy face-to-face,” Knuckles said to her, seriously. “I want to see what I can figure out from him…because we can’t keep on in this way forever, we’re _losing ground_ , Rouge.”

“I know… _you’re right_ …at the rate things are going, we might lose the fight in the end,” the Anthro Bat sighed, wrapping both her arms around Knuckles and hugging him tightly. “Why don’t we enlist Shadow while he’s here—he’s the only one who might actually be able to bypass the security on the _Dark Oasis_.”

“That’s a good idea…but I don’t want _you_ to go,” Knuckles murmured, rubbing his muzzle along her neck, fondly. He breathed in her soft, familiar scent and wrapped his one good arm about her waist. “It is far too dangerous and…” he began.

“You’d _rather_ it be Mighty or Vector?” Rouge snapped back, a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.

“ _No_ …” Knuckles trailed off, remembering Mighty’s somewhat non-verbal confession very vividly at the moment. Then Vector was _so important_ …he knew humans and Anthros so well and he kept so much knowledge in his head on everything. Of course…there were so many people that he could take, but everyone was so important to him…Jason, David, Amy…everyone here in Station Square! “I’m uncertain of who I should take, because I am afraid of losing _anyone at all_ ,” he finally said to her.

“That’s rather a selfish thought for a simple _‘golem’_ , isn’t it?” Rouge teased, warmly.

“I suppose so,” Knuckles responded with a soft laugh. “No, Rouge…I have a _far more important_ and probably a lot more dangerous task for you—but, besides myself, you’re the _only person_ I know who might have a chance of pulling it off. I want _you_ to find the Chaos Emeralds,” he said, keeping his voice very quiet. “Once the team gets back from the reservoir…take Espio with you, maybe Jessica, too. _You_ —to seek the Chaos Emeralds, _Espio_ —to keep you all hidden as well as possible and _Jessica_ —to watch your backs, since she’s a weapons expert. We need to keep this a _secret_ …” the red-furred Echidna trailed off.

“It’s quite unlike you to keep things from people,” Rouge chided softly.

“I know, but…I’m doing something based on my _old instincts_ ,” Knuckles responded in a gentle voice. “I suppose there is a chance the Chaos Emeralds may not exist anymore, but if they _do_ …? Well, I don’t want to give out false hope for anyone,” he added, tenderly brushing his lips over hers. “I believe I’ll take David with _me_ , as well as Shadow. David knows the most about the aliens’ biology and technology…”

“I still worry that you intend on going through with such a selfish plan, when Sonic’s probably going to change it all when he gets back to the past,” Rouge sighed as Knuckles pulled away from her and walked over to the window to pull the curtain over it.

“That may not necessarily be true…we may already exist and continue to exist even if Sonic changes things,” Knuckles said, gazing intensely at the female Bat. “That would not all be bad, either…” he murmured, a smile curving his muzzle.

“No…I don’t believe it would be,” Rouge chuckled, draping her arms around Knuckles’ neck and leaning into him.

* * * * *

“C’mon…cheer up, bro,” Vector said quietly, reaching down to rub Sonic’s head.

“ ** _Nnnngh_** …I _hate_ this future, Vector—it’s too dark and too sad,” Sonic muttered, clearly upset by everything he’s seen since Chaos Control landed them here in this strange and depressing future.

Vector looked down at the blue-furred Hedgehog. He gave a little smile that didn’t reveal his sharp teeth as a big smile usually did. “This is _war_ , Sonic…you have always fought injustices everywhere, but you have never settled down anywhere,” the tall Anthro Crocodile said, softly. “You protect everyone you can, but you do not have a specific home to protect. This is why you don’t understand our war. _Listen_ …I lost South Island, Mara and Chet, as well as so many friends. Knuckles lost Angel Island and the Master Emerald. Both of us know what it’s like to _lose_ everything that had meaning for us…so, we also understand how important it is to _protect_ what you now have. Also, we try to protect others from feeling the same losses that we have,” he added, closing his dark brown eyes for a moment. “Until you feel a loss _so razor sharp_ …I don’t think you’ll understand what’s going on here,” he said, gazing down at Sonic intensely.

Sonic’s green eyes met Vector’s gaze, full on. He was a little surprised, because he had never really heard Vector say much about South Island after the incident happened. Especially back after it had originally occurred. Especially since he was a young Croc with a young wife and a very young son—both of whom were lost to him when South Island was destroyed. Sonic didn’t even remember seeing Vector for quite a long time after the South Island incident, but when he finally could remember seeing Vector around Station Square…the Crocodile had seemed so strong and focused. The blue-furred Hedgehog realized that he had never even seen Vector grieving.

“ _Ummm_ …so why’d _Eggman_ join ‘em?” Sonic asked, curious but worried at that bit of news.

“Possibly to be on the winning team,” Vector responded, sighing softly. “Earth got slammed down pretty quick when Black Death and his Hive showed up. I think ol’ Eggman realized that he stood no chance against them.”

“ _Really_?” Sonic asked, bright green eyes wide in shock. “But if a guy smart like that had joined you guys…?” He trailed off, truly stunned.

Vector simply shrugged and took a glance through his binoculars at the target once more. “Damn…there are Hammer Oaks,” he groaned. Then the Crocodile tapped the headset mic around his skull. “David, Espio…I see some Hammers in the group, but otherwise it looks to be mainly Grunts and a couple of Hounds,” he murmured into the headset mic.

**_< Confirmed,>_** Espio’s cool voice responded back in the headset.

**_< I see them too,>_** David’s voice replied as well. **_< They may’ve downgraded their security since it’s been awhile and we hadn’t come after the reservoir yet.>_**

**_< Hammers are far from downgrades,>_** Espio’s voice chuckled softly. **_< That’s rather an upgrade from a regular Black Oak.>_**

A big grin split Vector’s slim muzzle, revealing sharp teeth. “Scientific discussion can wait, gentlemen…I do believe I see our opportunity opening up,” he responded, keenly. “Start the raid…” he added, gazing down at Sonic as he said it. “Sonic…stick to the plan—hold back until everyone is already in the fight, wait and see who will need your help the most. _Observe_ the aliens…they’re slightly different than the ones you fought before.”

“Yeah, I got it…Knuckles said _not_ to rush in this time,” Sonic sighed, shrugging. “It’ll be weird, but I think Knuckles will kill me if I don’t follow this plan of his.”

“He would be pissed, for sure…but he knows you’ll do the _right thing_ ,” Vector chuckled, warmly. “He’s a _good_ leader…he’s grown into the role very naturally. _Trust_ him,” the Crocodile added, rising to his feet and leaving Sonic on his own for the start of the fight.

It was hard for Sonic to see _that_ from Knuckles—reconciling the often-angry loner from the island in the sky with the cool and collected leader that was here in this future. While it was true that so much had happened…the change in Knuckles was so drastic that it was almost frightening to the blue-furred Hedgehog. Was it because of the human teenager that Knuckles cared for? Was it because Rouge and Knuckles had admitted love for each other? What was it that had opened up the Echidna after all those years?

Maybe Vector was right, though. Sonic never stopped to consider the lives of individuals…he breezed through his life, reveling in the friendships he had only when he was in the presence of those friends. Sonic reached out to rescue everyone he could…even though he could never tell you who each individual was that he saved the lives of. He never stayed in one place long enough to let love and friendship change him…which is what had obviously happened to Knuckles. Suddenly the loner from Angel Island was surrounded by many people…people who had lost friends and family, as well as a _“normal”_ life. Knuckles had _bonded_ with all the people he was suddenly surrounded with. If the same thing had happened to Sonic…where he’d be tied down to _one place_ , surrounded by people who needed each other…would the speedy hero of the world have changed in a similar way?

Sonic the Hedgehog shook his head and turned his full attention to watching the few Anthros and humans battle a handful of alien invaders, waiting for a moment when he could help them or come to their rescue. Waiting was always difficult for him, but this world was different and seemed to require nothing but patience in order to win the day. _For once_ , the fastest guy on the planet would wait patiently.

* * * * *

“Are you feeling better?” Knuckles asked, as he sat down on the empty bed near Shadow’s in the hospital room.

The old black-and-red furred Hedgehog looked over and carefully appraised the Echidna. “You look rather refreshed for someone who’s been working all day long,” Shadow said, dryly.

“I don’t really need much more than naps…and Rouge is _always_ good company,” Knuckles responded, grinning at the Hedgehog. Shadow rolled his red eyes. “I came to ask you for a favor. It can be potentially dangerous, but I think it may be largely beneficial in the end.”

Shadow tilted his head, curiously. How strange…to be asked for something when he and Sonic would likely be leaving soon. “Is that so? State what it is that you need…” Shadow inquired, softly.

“I’ve decided to have a surprise visit with our oppressor,” Knuckles began. “Because you have Black Arms blood and genes, we think it may be possible for you to bypass most of the security panels or maybe even guards on board the _Dark Oasis_.”

“ _We_? How curious…” Shadow chuckled, wryly. “Admittedly, I am curious to learn about this foe who may possibly plague us, once we get back to the past.”

“When the others get back from the raid on the reservoir, I’d like for you to take David and I to the _Dark Oasis_ ,” Knuckles said, standing up and gazing at Shadow. “David is our expert on Black Arms technology, he may also be able to aid us on the ship. Of course, I am attempting to keep this a secret right now…too many people would protest if I informed them that I wished to do this.”

“Which explains why you’ve eluded your _guard-dog_ at the moment,” Shadow responded, a dry tone of voice, but a small little smile on his muzzle.

Knuckles was taken aback for a moment by the tone in Shadow’s voice. The black-and-red-furred Hedgehog had only met Mighty once…how did he _know_? _Knuckles_ hadn’t even known until what the Anthro Armadillo had said earlier! Knuckles closed his one good eye and sighed…was he really _that blind_ to his old friend’s true feelings for so many years?

“You two were only out in the hallway,” Shadow murmured. “The tone of his voice was incredibly concerned over you and what you were saying. Such emotions are truly strong enough to be sensed, even at a distance,” he added, upon seeing the surprised look on the Echidna’s face.

“ _Ah…yes_ , Mighty would _definitely_ be against this,” Knuckles responded, smiling wryly. “But…I just suddenly have this strong feeling that I _must_ meet the enemy face-to-face. It may be that your appearance has stirred the pot, so to say.”

“You…can _feel_ the Chaos Emeralds, can’t you?” Shadow asked, clearly surprised. “ _I’ve_ certainly felt them…flaring into life, one-by-one, since I woke up.” The Anthro Hedgehog carefully looked over the scarred Echidna. “How strange…it seems that you and I have more in common than I ever thought possible—but then, I honestly never talked much to you in the past.”

“My situation is a _little different_ than yours…but I _never tried_ to connect to the Chaos Emeralds before, back then,” Knuckles said, shrugging. “There was _only_ the Master Emerald. I never thought about the others, to tell the truth…but, oddly, they resonate with my blood as clearly as the Master Emerald ever did.” Suddenly a device trilled in the pocket of Knuckles’ long coat. He pulled the communicator out with a soft little sigh. “Yes?” He inquired, softly. “I’ll be there shortly, then, Miles…thank you,” he responded, after listening to the whole message from the young Fox. “It appears the raid was successful, so do you think you can be ready to leave soon?” Knuckles asked, glancing at Shadow, who nodded. “As soon as I can sneak David away, we’ll leave, then.”

“I’ll be waiting in front of the hospital,” Shadow said.

Knuckles left the room and the building, walking to the plaza area. When he got there, the Echidna clapped the tall Anthro Crocodile on the back, as he passed Vector. “Thanks for another job well done,” he said, smiling up at his old friend. Then Knuckles walked around and congratulated everyone. After that, he assigned several people with combat skills to go get some weapons and head out to relieve Sonic and Espio over at the reservoir. “David…I’d like to get your assessment of the Black Arms soldiers you saw there,” Knuckles said, tapping the arm of his human friend.

The request seemed completely natural, but David somehow felt the request was a little odd. He kept his footsteps slow and measured, to match Knuckles’ pace as they walked towards the hospital. David carefully explained each of the types of soldiers they’d seen at the reservoir, wondering in his head why Knuckles wanted to hear the details. As they approached the hospital, David saw that the old Hedgehog from the past was there waiting for them…the indigo Chaos Emerald in his hand.

“Sorry to surprise you like this, David…but we’re going to go to the _Dark Oasis_ ,” Knuckles said, softly. “I could really use your knowledge, too…will you come with us?” He asked, hopefully.

The man felt a warmth flower inside of him. “For you to choose me over anyone else means a lot…thanks, Knuckles,” David murmured, softly. “ _Of course I’ll go with you_ …I hope I can be of help to you, too,” he added, chuckling as he checked the charge on the sonic rifle slung over his shoulder.

For Shadow, this time the Chaos Control teleport seemed to go a lot smoother. Of course, this time there wasn’t an explosion that interfered with the teleport…nor did Shadow feel the siphoning of energy that the Chaos Emerald had used last time. It was strange…the siphoning seemed to be redirected at… _Knuckles?!_ **_How odd!_** That fact actually _annoyed_ the old Hedgehog…and it also _frightened_ him. The moment they teleported aboard the alien ship, Shadow slammed the palm of his hand directly in the center of Knuckles’ forehead, holding the Echidna’s head tilted back.

“What did you _do_?” The black-and-red furred Hedgehog snarled.

“ _Eh_?” Knuckles murmured, a little dazed by the teleport and Shadow’s all-too-quick movement. “What do you mean?” He asked, softly.

“What the _hell_?! You _drew_ the indigo Chaos Emerald’s power leeching into _yourself_!” Shadow hissed, angrily. Suddenly he realized that Knuckles not only hadn’t realized what he’d done, but the Echidna certainly hadn’t even done it on purpose! “A _golem_ , you said? _Hmmmm_ …” the old Hedgehog murmured, half-to-himself, letting go of Knuckles. “ _Never mind_. What you did certainly surprised me, but it has also left me much more clear-headed than before,” he answered, regaining his cool composure.

“All right, then,” Knuckles answered, absently reaching up to rub the shoulder above the old stump of his left arm.

Both David and Shadow noticed the gesture, but both of them had completely different reactions to it.

“Knuckles…are you alright?” David asked, very concerned that his friend was in pain.

“There’s the power of a Chaos Emerald on this ship…possibly _more than one_ …it’s accelerated the sensitivity in your blood,” Shadow said at almost the same time as David’s concerned query.

The tall human male looked down at Shadow…then he glanced over at Knuckles…a very puzzled look on his face. For some reason, he couldn’t understand everything that the Hedgehog was saying. Many of the words seemed strange, foreign… _alien_ …

“The Hive’s affecting you, Shadow,” Knuckles said, greatly concerned for his new ally. “You just said _most_ of that in Black Arms language…and the rest was in _Ancient Echidna_ ,” he said, very seriously.

Shadow’s red eyes widened in great surprise. He could probably understand the effect of the organic ship touching his partially-alien blood…making him speak in Black Arms language…but _old Echidna_? How strange! Shadow was older than people realized, because he’d been in cryogenic stasis for a long period of time…making him a bit over fifty years old…but he certainly was _nowhere near_ old enough to be able to speak the language of a long-dead race!

David walked over to a wall, curious at the hieroglyphs that ran along the length of the hallway. “Could _this_ be why? These glyphs aren’t completely _Black Arms_ …” the man inquired, brushing curious fingers along a line of glyphs.

Knuckles walked over and glanced at the wall, then tilted his head to look down the hallway a little bit at a large portion of the hieroglyphs. “They’re _Echidna_ hieroglyphs,” he murmured, suddenly rubbing his shoulder again. His heart almost stopped…then started beating faster in anticipation. The picture-writing of his ancestors that was _at least_ a thousand years old! They could even be _older_ …since the hieroglyphs existed for a good span of time even before Chaos had wiped out the Echidna tribes a thousand years ago. “It really _was_ right for me to come here…there’s something I really need to know about right now…” Knuckles murmured, his heart both sad and excited by the familiar picture-writing along the walls of the alien ship’s corridor.

“It appears that the path to the command room just became difficult,” Shadow sighed as he saw a small horde of Black Arms troops headed right for them.

“Grunts and Warriors…these are _nothing_ ,” David chuckled, raising the sonic rifle.

Knuckles waved at the man to put the weapon away and turned to Shadow. “Order them to take us to Black Death,” he said to the old Hedgehog.

“I think you may have possibly expected too much of me, Echidna,” Shadow scoffed.

“No, I _know_ I haven’t…you have the blood of a _Hive Noble_ inside of you—a Hive Noble from _this_ family, even,” Knuckles said, softly. “Giving _these_ small fry orders, especially with the boost of a Chaos Emerald behind you, should not be very difficult.”

Shadow sighed and shrugged, then turned to face the oncoming soldiers. “Cease your assault,” the Hedgehog said in the Black Arms tongue, putting force in his voice. “Take us to the Hive Leader,” he added, when the soldiers halted immediately and shifted on their feet anxiously.

The bulk of the soldiers wandered off, but a couple of Black Warriors led them silently down the corridor. They were directed into a large room that had a high, curved ceiling. The entire room seemed to pulse with energy, both organic and inorganic energy. As the three from Earth entered the large chamber, two tall figures standing beside a monitor column turned to face them.

“How amusing,” the black-robed one’s echoing voice chuckled in flawless English. “The one who leads the most annoying branch of the rebels comes to _me_ for a visit,” he added, holding a hand out. Instantly, a massive scythe rushed across the room and into his waiting grip. “I don’t suppose _you_ could have foreseen this, Doctor Eggman?” He asked of his dark-clothed companion.

“The Echidna was generally the predictable one…but _this_ surprises even me,” Eggman responded with a wry grin, as he walked over to stand beside Black Death. Eggman was wearing a modified version of his old jumpsuit, with a regal-looking long black coat over his ample frame and beret atop his head. “This was a pretty stupid move, Knuckles.”

“No…I do believe this was the _right_ move,” Knuckles responded, staring directly at Black Death. “It’s all falling into place now…when Sonic and Shadow arrived through Chaos Control, the abilities that were dormant in my blood suddenly fired back into life.” He glared so angrily at Black Death that it could almost bore holes through the alien. “ _Where is the Master Emerald?!_ ” He snarled, almost in a frightening deep roar.

David was surprised at the sudden fury in his leader’s voice. Of course, he had _never_ known Knuckles in the past, before the aliens arrived…but Amy Rose had said that Knuckles used to be hot-tempered and quick to anger— _eager to fight_! However, David wasn’t the only one who was surprised by Knuckles’ words and reactions…the moment that the Echidna had uttered the words _“Master Emerald”_ , Eggman shot a furious glare at Black Death’s back.

“I have no idea what you speak of,” Death taunted, using the language of Ancient Echidna to reply to Knuckles’ accusation.

The use of his ancestors’ language had not only shocked Knuckles, but Eggman showed surprise at it as well. Dr. Eggman knew of the Ancient Echidna language from when he’d tried to harness Chaos—since he’d had to learn to read the hieroglyphs on tablets. So, it was certainly a big surprise to hear an old and dead language of Earth come from the mouth of an alien that came from stars distant!

“I see you’re puzzled by my knowledge of your language…and possibly even moreso by the hieroglyphs on the ship,” Death continued, reverting back to English, but still with much amusement in his echoing voice. “The _Dark Oasis_ is a special ship I had commissioned by those of the Twilight Cage…they tend to put some of _their own_ aesthetics into anything they construct.”

The _“Twilight Cage”_? And the Echidna hierogylphs? And _…“their aesthetics”_? What did all this mean? There were Echidnas somewhere… _else_ …in the universe?

“What did Knuckles mean about the Master Emerald?” Eggman asked of Black Death in a very cool and neutral voice. He could care less about _other Echidnas_ …but the existence of the Master Emerald had him interested and curious. “You destroyed Angel Island completely…everyone witnessed that event,” he added, gazing at his partner of the last near-two decades.

“The Master Emerald is _fragmented_ …that’s why Shadow thinks there may be _multiple_ Chaos Emeralds here,” Knuckles answered, glancing briefly at Dr. Eggman, but turning his attention quickly back to the alien prince. “I may not be as familiar with the Chaos Emeralds as _Shadow_ is…but I certainly know the aura of the _Master Emerald_. It’s _here_ …on _this ship_.”

Black Death suddenly tossed back his head, roaring with laughter. He brushed a gloved hand back over the hood, sweeping it back and revealing the face that he’s kept secret for centuries upon end. The alien prince’s visage was enough to surprise everyone in the room, even Dr. Eggman, who’d been with the aliens for the last seventeen years. David gasped, absolutely stunned, sinking to his knees, weakly.

“ _Human_? How is this possible!?” Shadow growled.

“Foolish child…I used my shape-shifting abilities long ago, when I last visited this world,” Death snapped, his echoing voice showing annoyance, finally. He reached up with his free hand and brushed strands of the long black hair back over his shoulder. “Unfortunately, the previous incarnation of _this one_ damaged my abilities, using the Master Emerald, and I’ve been forced to remain in _this form_ for centuries,” he added, pointing at Knuckles with fury in his red eyes. “You cannot imagine the humiliation I’ve suffered from my own kind over this… _this_ … ** _error_**!” He snarled, his echoing voice _definitely_ showing anger. But in a second, he seemed to regain his cool composure. “You look different now, however…you’ve taken on some kind of _mortal container_ , but I still sense your presence, _Chaos_.”

Knuckles’ head jerked back and his remaining dark blue eye went wide with surprise. He’d figured…wondering for so many years about his past and such…he was _likely_ some sort of golem, a created creature. After all…he could only _ever_ remember the Master Emerald…and the Echidnas of the tribe he probably came from had been destroyed over a thousand years ago…and how he felt so incomplete after the destruction of Angel Island. He could no longer feel the aura of the Master Emerald and believed it to be _dead_ …it had left a massive void in his soul that he could never seem to fill. But…he was an incarnation of _Chaos_? How was _that_ possible? Chaos had been _sealed_ in the Master Emerald with Tikal’s soul… _unless_ …?

The Master Emerald…could _it_ have…?

“I thought that by acquiring _your_ Master Emerald, I could fix the damage you wrought upon me…but it _will not_ function!” Black Death growled, pounding the butt of his scythe on the semi-organic floor of the command room.


	6. Korin and Chaos

**_Chapter ???: Korin and Chaos_ **

Centuries past, long before the events of the modern era, a large green gemstone came to life. It was _lonely_ …removed from the deepest earth by small creatures with fur of reddish or brown colors, it had been taken from the smaller gemstones _it took care of_. The small creatures, who walked upon two legs, but had features of a type of animal, had been surprised by the glow and strong aura of the green gemstone…they created a stone housing for the jewel and began to give homage to it. But as time passed, the various tribes of these beings forgot about the large jewel and wandered off to live their own lives.

It was _lonely_. _They_ called it a Chaos Emerald, but the large green jewel had _never_ considered giving itself a name. It simply _existed_. It missed the smaller jewels it lived with deep inside the earth. The large jewel could feel their auras, some auras were dimmer than others…proving they must be further away. It seemed that others may have found the smaller jewels and had taken them elsewhere in the world. The sounds of nature all around it…the flow of the stream around the base of the stone shrine…the sun and shadow that crept across the grassland every day… _life_. But still…this large _“Chaos Emerald”_ was incredibly _lonely_. It wanted a _companion_ …someone to communicate with and to abate the years of loneliness.

One day, in this time over a thousand years ago, the great green gemstone sent a spark of life into the water that flowed around the stone structure below where those small beings had placed it. The spark of life flowed through the stream, wrapping around microorganisms and calling them together to form a _single entity_. A form suddenly rose from the water, sliding up the old stone stairs of the shrine and gazed at the jewel that had granted it life.

This new life form was _mostly_ like a liquid, formless…but could assume shapes as it desired. This being had a brain and brainstem that could be seen through the clear liquid of the body, as well as round green orbs for eyes. The green jewel was _happy_ with its new child…it _finally_ had someone to love, someone who would love it in return. It would _no longer_ be _lonely_. The water-being was _also_ happy…to be called into life and to feel the warm aura of this large jewel inside of it. This new life-form began to develop a _personality_ …began to consider itself an individual and would wander around the area every day to make sure _nothing_ would come to harm the gemstone that it loved very much. The water-being became strong and smart…when creatures wandered near the shrine with any malevolent intent, the being scared them away. It would do _anything_ to protect the item that had given it life!

And, in return, the green jewel sent waves of love and warmth into the soul of the one it created…showing how happy it was to no longer be alone in this strange place the small creatures had brought it to.

One day, way back then, a small fairy-like creature came to the shrine…it carried one of the smaller gemstones that the large one had lived with deep in the earth. And then another of these fairies showed up with a small _“Chaos Emerald”_ jewel…and another…until all seven of the large _“Chaos Emerald’s”_ companions were once more together with it. The liquid-being that the _“Master Chaos Emerald”_ had created seemed to like the small fairy-like creatures that came…they were all little and innocent, enjoying playing so happily in the water that surrounded the shrine. It was happy, because now it had _so much more_ to love and protect…this was _its home_ and these were _its family_ …it would _protect_ these things with _all that it was!_

* * * * *

Time passed, as it always did…and often, Chaos would see the small creatures of the area roaming around—creating new structures in their villages, hunting for food and game, playing their strange and sometimes violent games. Chaos had heard some of these two-legged animal-like beings speaking and they called themselves a tribe of _“Echidnas”…_ the Echidnas who lived closest to the Shrine of the Master Emerald called themselves the _“Knuckles Tribe”_ , because the fists of the males had these sharp spikes protruding from them. Chaos was wary of them, because of their violent games, but none had really wandered near the shrine in many years…so, overall…Chaos tended to _ignore_ them.

And then, one day…

“Where _is_ that path…I _know_ it’s here somewhere…” a young male voice mumbled.

Chaos watched the young Echidna male push back some brush and worried as the boy wandered closer to the shrine. The Echidna was going to head directly to the Master Emerald, there was no longer any doubt about it…so the liquid-like being flowed up in front of the boy and rose to a height towering over the small being.

“ _Gyahhh!_ ” The boy cried, stumbling backwards and landing on his backside. “By the gods…you scared me to death!” He growled as he sat up straight and rubbed his back. “It really _is true_ …there’s _living water_ near that old shrine!” The Echidna male murmured in awe, staring up at Chaos.

Chaos formed an arm into something that looked like a scythe and leaned forward in a menacing manner.

“Wait… _stop_! I’m _not_ here to hurt you!” The boy cried, flinging his arms up before him, protectively.

Chaos dropped the scythe-like form of his arm to his side, curious at the tone in the boy’s voice. If the child wasn’t here to do harm to the shrine, then _why_ was he wandering around the shrine area so carelessly? Should he be _suspicious_ of this boy-child? He’d never really encountered any of the Echidnas in person before…but _this one_ did not seem like he was here to cause any sort of trouble at all. He looked rather harmless…although the boy-child _did_ have a traditional knife on his tribal belt. Not that a simple knife could cause a being of water any sort of harm!

Chaos flowed back a few steps and allowed the Echidna boy to get to his feet. The young male brushed off his red fur and carefully dusted off the skirt-like wrap around his waist and the vest he was wearing. The boy also had a gold neckband…which seemed to denote some sort of _rank_ , because Chaos had never really seen some of the other Echidnas that wandered around wearing any sort of jewelry. The boy _also_ had a gold band atop his broad brow, which was _definitely_ denoting a rank of some sort.

“So… _you’re_ the mysterious guardian of the old shrine in the woods? How very _interesting_!” The boy laughed. “My name is _Korin_ …I’m the first son of the Chief of the Knuckles Tribe,” he added, giving a bow to the liquid-like being. “I’m _trying_ to learn the layout of our lands…and someone told me the story of the ancient shrine, I was curious to see it—but everyone told me not to go there, because it was haunted by a weird creature!”

Chaos moved its head back-and-forth, curious about the boy, who seemed to have lost all fear of him. The boy was _quite talkative_ , it was strange…and the boy had come out, _specifically_ seeking the shrine. To _learn_ of it? Was that _all_? Chaos moved forwards, to try and get a sense of the boy’s aura a bit clearer.

Korin followed the liquid-like being’s movements carefully, his body tense, but _trying_ to keep a relaxed nature…so as not to upset Chaos, or seem threatening. But he wanted to be able to defend himself easily, if Chaos had deemed him a threat after all. Chaos seemed to be _“scenting”_ him in some way…but not really using a sense of _smell_ , it was more like a sense of _“aura”_ or _“emotion”_. Korin wondered if the creature could speak…Chaos _hadn’t_ said any words, _nor_ made any sounds, but it _did_ seem to understand Korin’s words easily enough.

“Can you take me to that shrine?” Korin asked. “I really _would_ like to see it,” he added, smiling at Chaos, as the water-like creature flowed away and just gazed at him.

Chaos considered this for several moments. The boy seemed to be harmless enough, the Guardian of the Master Emerald did not seem to consider the child a threat to itself or the inhabitants of the shrine. It had never had _anyone_ ask it of such a thing before, so it was unsure what it should do. Perhaps Chaos _could_ take Korin to the shrine…but it would watch over the Echidna boy very carefully and make sure he would do no harm to the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, nor to the small Chao that lived there.

So Chaos turned and flowed away, looking back once to see if the Echidna boy was following it. Korin realized that Chaos was going to take him to the shrine deep in the wilderness, so he dashed off after the living liquid, grinning with excitement. Chaos did not take one of the worn and ancient paths, but slid through brush and tangles, eventually flowing through a long cavern that opened up into a beautiful valley. Korin gasped in awe…it was amazing!

Chaos flowed over to the stairs at the foot of the shrine and stayed there, half in a puddle-form, just with enough of its head raised from the altered state to keep an eye on the Echidna youth. Korin laughed…the liquid-like Guardian was somewhat amusing in its over-protective nature, so he made sure _not_ to go anywhere near the steps of the shrine itself, out of respect for the creature. Korin walked around the stream that flowed about the base of the shrine and suddenly saw a couple of the fairy-like Chao playing in a basin of clear water at the back side of the structure.

The boy’s eyes widened in awe… _these_ creatures had been talked about in _legends_! To see them meant your life was a _blessed_ one! Korin felt all warm and happy inside, he’d seen legendary creatures and a hidden sanctuary that _no one else_ had seen in a very long time. Korin walked over to the small pool, quietly and carefully, so as not to frighten the Chao. One of the Chao looked up at him and cooed softly in a warm greeting.

“Hello, little ones…my name is Korin, son of Pachcamac, from the Knuckles Tribe,” the boy said, formally, giving a respectful little bow to the Chao.

Within moments, more of the Chao flocked over to see the new person, huddling around him and pushing against him for hugs and caresses. Korin laughed, happy that the fairy-like creatures accepted him so readily. He played with them for hours, until he saw the sun falling lower in the sky. The boy sighed as he rose to his feet and gave them all one last hug apiece.

“I’m sorry, I _must_ go…my father will worry about me if I’m not back to the village by sundown,” Korin apologized. He ran around the shrine and saw Chaos had formed up into his usual form and was standing on the steps, staring at the sky. “ _Chaos!_ I have to go now! But I’ll come back to visit all of you, I promise!” The young Echidna male called, waving to the liquid-like Guardian in farewell.

Chaos’s gaze drew down from the sky and it watched the Echidna boy run off, not even wondering how the boy knew his name, back towards the cavern entryway to the valley. A strange and harmless child this young Korin was…who said that he would return? Chaos supposed that would be alright if the Master Emerald felt it was alright…and especially as the little Chao liked the boy’s company and he brought no harm to this area. Chaos watched as Korin disappeared from the valley and then turned its gaze back up to the sky, watching it change colors as the sun slowly sank beyond the horizon.

* * * * *

The seasons had cycled through at least once, the Echidna boy had come often to the shrine during the nicer weather…but not as often when the weather would be harsh and miserable. When it rained and stormed so furiously, the small Chao would all huddle together inside the shrine, alongside the Master Emerald. Chaos didn’t mind the rain, nor the storms, so it would still flow around the area, keeping a watchful eye out for troubles. But…after weeks and months of seeing Korin coming to the Shrine of the Master Emerald, Chaos had begun to like the Echidna youth. The liquid-like being could not explain it, but it admired the boy…for being brave, and for being open and cheerful, as well. Chaos found that it would be waiting near the cavern entryway to the shrine area most days, wondering when Korin would arrive.

It was strange, because Chaos could not speak words as the boy could. It had _no way_ to speak words, the Master Emerald had not created it with the ability to do so, Chaos could only communicate with emotions and the way it could shape its body. But Chaos listened to Korin tell many tales about his tribe, the world outside the shrine and many more stories…and Korin didn’t seem to mind that Chaos could not speak to him with words, the boy seemed to understand the Guardian was not a being who could speak with vocal sounds.

The day was warm, with a gentle breeze that blew through the valley when Korin showed up with a new surprise. The boy called out warm greetings as he came through the cavern entryway and strode over to where Chaos was by the clear pool the Chao played in. Chaos tensed up, sensing _more_ than just Korin had arrived in the shrine area and it moved into a defensive stance…even though it could not see that the boy had brought a visitor, it knew that there was more than _just Korin_ here today!

“It’s okay, Chaos…look, see…I brought my new baby sister to visit!” Korin said, soothingly, as he’d noticed the liquid-like Guardian had tensed up with anxiousness. The boy turned his back to the water-being and Chaos saw the strange pack the Echidna youth was wearing. “Her name’s _Tikal_ …she’s so _cute_!” Korin gushed, happily.

Chaos flowed over to the boy, curiously, peering into the folded blankets. A small fist stretched out and splashed right through Chaos’s face…the Guardian flowed back in surprise, staring at the small Echidna in the papoose. Korin laughed, amused at the obvious shock in the water-creature’s posture. Even though Korin knew that Chaos was incredibly strong and very loyal about protecting the Master Emerald…as well as all the others here at the area of the shrine…the Guardian still had a heartwarming innocence in the ways of the world.

Korin unfolded a colorful blanket and laid it out a short distance from the Chao Pool, then he carefully unslung the papoose and removed the infant Echidna girl from it. The youth gently laid his little sister down upon the colorful blanket and several of the Chao crowded about, cooing and making sounds of curiousity.

“Be very _gentle_ …she is very _little_ ,” Korin told the little fairy-like creatures as he stood up and then motioned to Chaos to walk with him a little ways away from them.

Chaos was puzzled. It looked back at the infant, who was moving small arms and legs energetically on the blanket. The infant was making strange sounds, but they were sounds of happiness…which the Chao seemed to echo…so, Chaos decided the infant was not a threat either and turned its attention to Korin, as it flowed over to where the boy was standing.

“Listen…do you remember me telling you about that black creature we saw in the area over the winter?” Korin asked. Chaos tilted its head at the boy and then moved it in a motion saying that it understood. “We’ve sighted it again. There were some young warriors out doing some hunting a few days ago and we later found their bodies, _mutilated_. There was some of that strange black blood splattered on them, as well…so one of the warriors may have injured the black creature before he died.”

Chaos could tell that Korin was very upset…and his emotions seemed to be spiraling up with more agitation as he talked about the black creature suddenly haunting the area. The boy’s spiked fists clenched and unclenched with growing anger.

“ _But why_? Chichorik and Jandori were just simple warriors, they hadn’t even received the Blessings of the Gods yet…or had their First Rites of Manhood! They were my _friends_ and this…this _alien creature_ just slaughtered them for no reason at all!” Korin whispered, furiously, baring his short, sharp teeth with ire.

Chaos flowed up to Korin, very closely, and then let its feet expand into a puddle form around both it and the Echidna boy. Chaos tried to send a soothing wave of emotion to the boy, as the Master Emerald often did to it, when _it_ was upset. Korin seemed incredibly shocked at Chaos’ gesture…at first, he’d almost complained about his feet getting soaked, then he realized the water-creature was trying to communicate something to him, even though he didn’t know what that was, and he felt himself calming down. He remembered how innocent this Guardian was…despite its strength and battle-skills…it was just trying to calm Korin down in a way that it understood.

“Thank you, my friend…I’m sorry that I was getting so angry…you probably didn’t know what I might do…” Korin sighed, smiling softly at the creature. “You are _truly_ a very good friend to me…thank you _so much_.”

Chaos flowed back a couple of feet, pleased that it felt the boy’s aura toning down into something a bit more gentle and acceptable. It seemed that this strange black creature was causing many of the local natives of the area pain and grief, Chaos wondered if it was going to come **_here_** and cause trouble. A being like this one may be drawn to the aura of the Master Emerald, if it could sense it. Chaos would need to train itself harder and be ready to fight against a being that had already killed multiple times and without mercy. And, to aid its good friend…Chaos would see to it that this strange black creature would meet a _final_ end, so it would not bother Korin and the boy’s kind any longer.

After a quiet moment, Korin went back over to his little sister on the blanket and Chaos flowed back over to the steps of the shrine, to watch over the area. Perhaps an hour had passed…perhaps two hours had passed…but there was suddenly a change in the atmosphere. Chaos tensed up…such a _dark_ , black sensation…was **_this_** the creature’s aura? Chaos flowed quickly over to Korin and the others, making a protective circle around them.

“Chaos? What’s wrong?” Korin asked, standing up and putting a hand warily on his long-knife. “It’s the black creature, isn’t it? _Tikal_ …” he murmured, kneeling and tucking her back into the papoose. The youth was about to place the pack back onto his back when Chaos reformed itself into a dome above them all.

Korin looked up to see a large blade swing down onto Chaos’s watery form and slide off of it with no harm done. The boy’s dark blue eyes went huge as he focused on the being that was wielding the massive scythe. He’d…seen a _similar_ type creature before—there was a tribe of these _“human beings”_ not too far away from their own tribe’s area. But… ** _no_** …there was something strange and _unnatural_ about this human-looking creature. Those red eyes bespoke of a true demon wearing but a mortal frame!

The black-clothed, human-looking demon said _something_ in an echoing voice, but the language was unfamiliar to him. Chaos formed back up into its normal-looking frame and then motioned to Korin to move back, towards the shrine itself. Korin was about to protest and say that he’d fight alongside his friend, but he realized he _couldn’t_ endanger his infant sister…the Echidna youth ran up the steps and stopped in front of the Master Emerald. The Chao surrounded him, crying and clinging to his legs, huddling together.

Korin was entranced by the massive green jewel that he was standing in front of…there was a soft glow in the center of the gemstone, like the pulse of a heart. The boy reached out his right hand, shifting his sister into his left arm thoughtlessly, placing it on the smooth surface of the jewel. Waves broke over his soul…so many of them, like ripples from a boulder being thrown into a pool. All at once, Korin seemed to see flashes of the past, the present and even the future… _so many waves…so much time…so many emotions!_

The boy _knew_ what he needed to do. It would be very sad for so many, but…this is what _needed_ to be done to stop this black creature from preying on any more innocent beings around here. The boy knelt and laid Tikal, in her papoose, propped up against the Master Emerald…murmuring to the Chao to watch over her and take care of her. Then he reached about his neck and removed the necklace that denoted him “first child of the chief” and placed it atop Tikal’s papoose. He stood up and placed his long-knife briefly against the surface of the Master Emerald. A little stream of energy wound around the blade, making it seem to glow green.

“Farewell, little Chao…farewell, precious little sister…I’m sorry we didn’t have more time together,” Korin murmured. He drew in a deep breath and calmed his soul, then he focused all of his determination and strength together for this fight.

Chaos was fighting hard against the strange demon, who wielded a huge scythe. Every so often, the demon would alter parts of its form…it was almost as if it wore the current _“human”_ form as a mere amusement, but it really had the ability to _change_ its form. The demon had so much strength and power, Chaos might have to resort to using one of the Chaos Emeralds to help him with this fight.

“Chaos…we _can’t_ let him change shape!” Korin snapped, ducking into the fight with ease and kicking a leg up high to throw the swing of the scythe off. “He’s _toying_ with you…if he changes into his _real form_ , we’re all doomed! The Master Emerald placed some…” Korin began, holding out his long-knife.

Suddenly, a hand of razor-sharp claws thrust straight through Korin’s chest. The demon laughed and drew back his clawed-hand, licking at the blood and guts that covered the razored fingers. Korin’s dark blue eyes began to glaze over and his knees began to weaken. Chaos froze, horrified to see the boy bleeding… _dying_ …before it. Korin’s eyes closed and the boy gave one final smile, holding out the long-knife towards Chaos. He tried to say something, but only blood trickled out of his mouth as his body sank to the grass.

Chaos rushed forwards, taking up the knife and covering the boy’s body with part of his watery frame. With nothing but sadness and anger, the liquid-like Guardian thrust the knife deeply into the demon’s chest. Green energy flared from the long-knife and rippled over the demon’s body, like a disease infecting it. The demon stared at the plain weapon in his chest, wondering why it burned like the sun… _what_ had the boy done to such a _simple knife_ , to make it cause so much pain? Then the demon raised a hand and glared at Chaos, who compacted its frame to completely immerse Korin’s body inside of it.

“Foolish insect…you have _no idea_ what you’ve done to me,” the demon snarled, suddenly realizing that his ability to shift his shape had been completely impeded by whatever Korin had done to the simple blade. “Someday…I shall return to have _vengeance_ upon you,” he whispered, his echoing voice full of indignant fury.

The demon then stormed off, into areas unknown…it simply seemed to have vanished off the face of the Earth entirely. But the damage had already been done…and Chaos lost his one and only friend.

The watery Guardian felt no more life in Korin’s body and simply melted into a puddle all around its friend’s limp form. It didn’t know what to do now…how could it be _happy_ again? The Master Emerald sent waves of emotion to its child, calling to it to come up to the shrine…but Chaos didn’t want to leave his friend’s body alone. It took the Master Emerald nearly thirty minutes of calling to the Guardian before Chaos finally, reluctantly, responded to its parent’s call. Still in puddle-form, Chaos flowed up to the top of the shrine and remained, sullenly, in puddle-form as waves of communication assaulted it.

Using the power of one of the smaller Chaos Emeralds, Chaos assigned one of the little Chao to teleport the infant Echidna girl back to the village where her family was. Using the non-verbal communication that it had with the Master Emerald…Chaos appealed to its beloved parent to allow it to bury the body of its one true friend here. Acceding to its child’s request, the Master Emerald allowed Chaos to bury Korin’s body beneath the stone structure of the shrine itself…so that Chaos could not just protect the Master Emerald and the beings in the area of the shrine any longer, but _now_ Chaos would be able to protect the body of its one and only precious friend as well.


	7. The Light of Hope

**_Chapter six: The Light of Hope_ **

“So…you _do_ have the Master Emerald,” Eggman murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he gazed at his alien companion. “Why did you never tell me this? I might have been able to make it work for you…” he trailed off.

“You are overstepping your bounds, Doctor Eggman,” Death responded, glaring at the man who was once called _“the enemy of the world”_. “I allow you to serve _my_ purposes, simply because your skills can be useful…but I have absolutely no need to keep you alive if you decide to stand against me for _any_ foolish reasons at all.”

Knuckles turned to Shadow and held the old Hedgehog’s gaze for several moments. “Please forgive me if I don’t seem to be as quick or as physically strong as I used to be, but I hope you’ll help me out here,” Knuckles murmured, reaching behind his waist and pulling out his collapsible staff.

“I understand,” Shadow responded. Then the black-and-red Hedgehog turned to the human man who had come with them to the _Dark Oasis_. “David, was it? I want you to hang on to _this_ …but don’t be surprised if it starts to glow or get warm. I’m _still_ going to use some of its power—I just want both of my hands to be free for this fight.”

“Got it,” David responded, taking a deep breath and clasping tightly to the indigo Chaos Emerald.

“ _Hrrragh!_ ” Knuckles cried, taking a swift and seemingly wild swing at Black Death. “Better move back, Eggman…I’ve no quarrel with you at the moment, but _if_ you interfere, I’ll have to _disable_ you!” The red-furred Echidna snapped as he whipped back the staff, once it struck against the curve of the scythe.

Eggman knew the dangers of interfering…and unless Black Death actually issued him some sort of orders, he would stay well out of the way of this fight. Besides, Dr. Eggman was incredibly curious to see how Knuckles fought now…since the Echidna clearly had some very old injuries that prevented his old style of brawling. The odd-looking human backed further back, against a far wall, to protect his back and keep an eye on the battle.

“Do you honestly think insects _like you_ can do damage to me?” Death growled, swinging the scythe in a heavy arc at Knuckles’ blind-side.

“And did you forget that there are _two of us_?” Shadow taunted, catching a part of the neck of the scythe in a glowing hand, before it could strike the Echidna.

“ _Certainly not_ ,” Death scoffed, yanking back the long-handled weapon and then shoved the blunt end in a sweep through Shadow’s legs. Shadow jumped and laid a hand on Knuckles’ shoulder, swinging his body in an arc and kicking at the human-formed alien, before landing easily on Knuckles’ other side. “Interesting…you’ve _never_ fought together before, but you both seem to be reacting to each other’s moves quite well,” Black Death chuckled, amused by Shadow and Knuckles.

“It’s called _instinct_ ,” Knuckles laughed, softly. “This guy fights a lot like a _certain moron_ I know…I have no reason not to trust his movements.”

“I’m not sure whether I should be _flattered_ to be compared to that particular moron…or whether I should be absolutely _offended_ ,” Shadow groaned, drawing a hand back to his side and then thrusting it out sharply. “ _Chaos Spear!_ ” He snapped, setting loose the energy bolt at the alien leader.

“Well…you’re certainly not as reckless in a fight, as _he_ is,” Knuckles responded with a feral grin, sweeping forwards and bringing himself into a quick crouch, then bolting upright with his right hand in a tight fist.

Black Death took a quick step backwards to avoid being punched in the face, but he suddenly felt something slam into the back of his legs. So he crumpled forwards, catching Knuckles’ fist in his stomach instead. The blows _didn’t_ actually _hurt_ him very much…but they were _very annoying_. He _didn’t like_ being touched by such inferior pests! It seemed that Shadow had quickly dashed behind him and tripped him as he’d tried to avoid Knuckles’ frontal attack.

“I should hope I’m a bit better at evaluating my enemy…instead of blazing in with no regard for anyone’s safety whatsoever,” Shadow said, dryly, sliding to a stop next to Knuckles as they both pulled back for a quick breath.

“You certainly are…but I’ll have to admit, there have been times when _I_ would be as reckless as that blue-quilled idiot,” Knuckles said with a warm laugh as he limbered up for a moment. “Shadow the Hedgehog, it has been a pleasure to fight alongside you,” he added, grinning at the dark-furred Hedgehog.

“Indeed,” Shadow responded with a warm grin.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, the absences have finally been noticed amongst the people of Station Square.

“ _Whaaaat?!_ ” Sonic cried, just as Rouge finally finished explaining Knuckles’ plan to everyone else.

“Get me a weapon,” Jason said in a low tone.

Vector sighed and patted the young human’s shoulder warmly. “You’ve got the spirit, Jase…but, listen, how are you even going to get to the _Dark Oasis_?” The tall, Anthro Crocodile queried. Then Vector turned toward Tails and crossed his arms, dipping his head thoughtfully. “Tails…you still have the _Tornado_ , right?” He asked, curiously.

“Sure, but it only seats _two_ and…it was only designed for _Anthros_ ,” Tails murmured, puzzled about why Vector was asking about the old bi-plane.

“That’s all I need to know,” Vector responded, easily, nodding down at the two-tailed Fox. “Sonic…I’ll get ya as close as I can to the _Dark Oasis_ , but pulling a rescue is completely up to you!” He added, softly.

“Gotcha, Vector…I’ll do my best,” Sonic responded, grinning up at the Crocodile.

“But Vector… _I_ want to go, too,” Mighty said, quietly, placing a gentle hand on his old friend’s elbow.

Vector looked down at the Anthro Armadillo, knowing exactly what was going through his old friend’s mind. “I know, bro…but you can’t,” he sighed. Then he saw his friend’s face fall in disappointment. “You’re running on emotions, Mighty…it’ll make you reckless, _especially_ since it has to do with Knuckles,” he added, reaching down to rub Mighty’s hard-shelled head. “Besides, we _all_ know that we’d just get in Sonic’s way. I’m sure Shadow’s already fighting hard…and we _can’t_ underestimate Knuckles,” Vector said, grinning at everyone.

“I _want_ to go, Vector,” Jason snapped, glaring at Vector.

Vector groaned, rubbing his muzzle gently. “I _know_ ya do, Jase…but you _cannot_ do this. Do you understand how Knuckles would feel if _you_ …or _Rouge_ …or _anyone_ here…got hurt?” He said, loudly, gazing at everyone very seriously. “When Angel Island and the Master Emerald was destroyed, Knuckles lost his reason for living…that is, _until_ he discovered the feelings he had for Rouge. _Until_ he took in a human boy who lost his parents. _Until_ he found there were new things he could protect. The resistance gave him a whole new purpose and he loves everyone here, so much… _all of you_ give him reason to keep going—so, _he will fight for all of you_ , just as he once had for the Master Emerald,” he explained, motioning around to capture the expanse of the place that Knuckles had come to call home. Then the Anthro Crocodile turned to Rouge. “And aren’t _you_ supposed to be heading off on a new mission? Get to it, lovely lady!” He chuckled, grinning at her.

“You are one crazy man, Vector,” Rouge laughed, smiling up at him. “I’ll find Espio and Jessica…then we’ll be on our way. Give Knuckles our best, once he gets home, all right?” Then Rouge walked over to Jason. “And I have a message for _you_ to give my absent lover,” she said teasingly, motioning for Jason to bend down. She whispered something in his ear and his dark blue eyes went wide, the cigarette in his hand falling to the ground. “Only give it to him _when_ he gets back, okay sweetie?” She chuckled, grinning at Jason.

“Y—yeah…got it,” Jason murmured, still shocked by her message for Knuckles.

After a few moments, things started to settle down and Sonic walked over to Jason. He looked up at the young human and reached up to pat his arm. “Ya know, I’ve never known Knuckles to need protection…but it’s kinda cool to see all the people who _wanna_ protect him now,” the blue-furred Hedgehog chuckled softly. “I was pretty surprised to see those injuries, but…y’know…he’s _still_ Knuckles,” Sonic added, seriously.

“Yeah…he _is_ …but…he’s also a _lot more_ than just Knuckles to me,” Jason murmured, gazing down at Sonic with many emotions in his dark blue eyes. “He took care of me when I lost _so much_ …my family, my life and even my hero. I remember it so well…you saved my life that day twenty years ago.” Then Jason sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, knocking his glasses off-kilter for a moment. “I thought it might’ve been my fault…I stopped you for that moment when you were going to fight Eggman,” he added, softly.

“Trust me, any screw-ups would be my own fault…Amy, Shadow and _especially_ Knuckles all liked to point that out to me!” Sonic laughed. “Never thought much about it ‘til I saw him here…I _like_ that weirdo. He’s a good pal I’ve never really appreciated.”

Jason thought about his own intense feelings for Knuckles…and what Jason just heard from Rouge, how Rouge felt about Knuckles. How _everyone_ felt about Knuckles! He removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, which ached with trying to hold back tears.

“If you don’t save Knuckles…I’ll _never_ forgive you,” Jason mumbled in a very tight voice. “He’s too important to me…he’s too important to _everyone_.”

* * * * *

“How strange this is…” Black Death chuckled as he dodged another swing of Knuckles’ staff. “And how oddly _nostalgic_ …fighting you again, Chaos.”

“You seem to keep forgetting that I’m _not_ the only one dealing with you here,” Knuckles responded, keeping his movements quick so that he can stay in momentum and build up power for his strikes.

“I certainly have not, but this little half-blood is really no more than an _insect_ ,” Death laughed, not even looking behind him as he reached back and grabbed a handful of Shadow’s styled black quills, yanking him forwards. “And _you_ seem to be weaker in this mortal shell…time seems to have dulled your skills as well, Chaos.”

Shadow concentrated and gathered power in a fist, slamming it down hard on the human-formed alien’s wrist. Black Death hissed with annoyance and dropped the black-furred Hedgehog. “I _dislike_ being talked to as if I am a _bug_ ,” Shadow growled. “The one who was here before you had once tried to sweet-talk me before he’d started in with the belittling,” he snapped angrily.

“ ** _~~~~--==-=++++----~****_** was a foolish _child_ ,” Black Death said, saying the name of the one who was Black Doom in the Hive language. “Any incarnation he produced, I’m certain, has _inherited_ his foolishness.” Then the alien prince tore off his reaper’s robe and flexed his arms proudly. He looked somewhat thin and frail…a _“pretty boy”_ …but he seemed quite confident in his fighting skills. “Like him, **_Doom’s Shadow_** , _you_ rely _too much_ on your ability to wield power—certainly _that_ caused his downfall. Having power _is_ important…but you should _never_ ignore the _primal skills_! He spread himself far too thin by creating multiple incarnations of himself, rather than _developing_ himself—he was afraid to sully himself with the blood of insects.”

“But _you’re_ not afraid to get blood on your hands, are you?” Shadow responded, fixing his gaze upon the leader of this Hive of Black Arms aliens.

That was the last key needed…what Shadow said made all of Knuckles’ scattered dreams and memories make sense. He remembered it _all_ now…and he knew exactly _who_ he was. He _wasn’t_ a pure reincarnation of Chaos…but he was something _more_ than Chaos ever was. Knuckles closed his remaining good eye and took in the flood of memories with a steady heart.

“ _You_ attacked the Shrine over a thousand years ago… _you_ killed that Echidna boy,” Knuckles said in a dangerously low tone.

“Indeed…your memory’s coming back now, is it?” Death laughed, clearly enjoying every moment of the struggle. “So _ridiculous_ …since you’re _practically wearing_ that boy’s body now—you were clearly influenced by his death, Chaos, you even _wear the name of his clan_ as your own moniker!”

Knuckles closed his one good eye again, taking a deep breath. It explained a lot…especially _why_ the Master Emerald was so very important to him. _Why_ he existed when there were no more Echidnas. But then, Black Death had hinted that Echidnas existed _elsewhere_ in the universe, just _not_ on Earth any longer. But the body he was _“wearing”_ , so to speak, _wasn’t_ exactly Korin’s body—which was beneath the Shrine ( _if_ it still existed somewhere beneath the waves)—the Master Emerald made a _re-creation_ out of Korin’s body and added a _spark of Chaos’ spirit_ to the new body… _that_ was Knuckles the Echidna.

Suddenly, Knuckles remembered Jason’s adamant and fierce words…and the moment, when as a child, the human boy clung to him, crying. He remembered Rouge’s gentle kisses…and the warmth of her body against his when all was dark and quiet. There were also Vector’s smooth words and open laughter…his quick anger when he fought for what was right. And there was David’s concern for everyone…Jessica’s fiery attitude…Jonathon’s talent to build new structures. Most of all, there was also Mighty’s fierce loyalty…and those deeply hidden feelings of love.

Chaos _didn’t_ have any of those things…Chaos _didn’t_ even really try to interact with any of the Echidnas outside of the Shrine area. There _had_ been Tikal and Korin…but, otherwise, Chaos _only_ had the Master Emerald and the tiny Chao that played at the Shrine. Chaos’ world was a very _small_ one indeed! But, then…once upon a time, Knuckles the Echidna had once _only_ had the Master Emerald as well…and his world was _so small_ back then.

Then Sonic the Hedgehog brought trouble to Angel Island. Then Sonic brought others’ into Knuckles’ life. Knuckles the Echidna was _so much more_ than an incarnation of Chaos, with the template body of an Echidna boy…he was a unique living being who had a _purpose_ —and who had people who loved him! And… _now_ he had many people that _he loved_ , as well.

Knuckles exhaled his deep breath, felt for the three fragments of the Master Emerald and summoned it all to him. The three huge shards suddenly popped into existence all around him! Then the red-furred, scarred Echidna slammed the end of his staff down on the technorganic floor.

“ _Well_ …regardless of whatever my past may have been, I have a future to help foster in,” Knuckles said with a smile. “You should be glad the Master Emerald only _cursed_ you…you should’ve _stayed away_ from Earth entirely. As Vector might say…let me escort you to Hell!” The Anthro Echidna said in a dangerous voice. “Care to help me ferry this fool into the fires, Shadow?”

“As one life-form of this blue sphere to another…it would be my pleasure,” Shadow laughed, skating about David and taking the indigo Chaos Emerald into his own hands.

Suddenly a groaning, tearing sound ripped through the ceiling and a blue ball of fur dropped into the command room. “Man, Shadow…you _weren’t_ supposed to leave without me!” Sonic laughed. Then he looked about the room. “Eggman…as round as ever, but black _don’t_ suit ya, big guy!” Sonic teased, grinning at Dr. Eggman. “ _’N’this_ … _this’s_ gotta be the one they’re callin’ Black Death?” He inquired, nodding at the human-looking alien.

“Why is it the _last minute_ rescues, Sonic? Can’t you _ever_ show up to a party on time?” Knuckles laughed, pleased at seeing his very first friend appear.

“ _Not_ my style, bro….you know that!” Sonic answered with a huge grin.

“I’m glad you’re here, Sonic,” Knuckles began, walking over to the blue-furred Hedgehog. “I want you and Shadow to take David and—take Eggman, too— _go back_ to Station Square,” he said, sharply. Knuckles glanced over at Dr. Eggman. “Join the winning side, Doctor… _come home_ to Earth.”

Eggman heaved a great sigh and shrugged his shoulders. Then the tall, odd-looking human removed the long coat and beret…striding over to stand next to Knuckles. “It really has _not_ been fun, Black Death…keeping the Master Emerald a secret from me was the _last straw_ ,” Eggman said, glancing at his former partner of the last almost twenty years. “You’ll _definitely regret_ letting me go…” he trailed off.

“ _Ummm_ …whaddya mean, _‘take these guys and go’_? I _just_ got here, Knuckles!” Sonic groaned, staring at the red-furred Echidna.

Knuckles twirled his staff and banged Sonic on top of the head with it. “I am the _leader of the resistance_ …don’t question my orders, _moron_. Besides, I’ll be _right behind_ you—I have the Master Emerald back, it can teleport me anywhere,” Knuckles said. “I have a few parting words for _this_ one, that I’d rather you not hear.”

Sonic rubbed his head and scowled as he turned to walk over to Shadow. The black-furred Hedgehog just shrugged and chuckled softly with amusement.

“Help me with Chaos Control…or else this damn thing will eat _all_ my energy and I’ll be stuck in bed again,” Shadow said, threateningly.

Sonic held his hand out to touch the indigo Chaos Emerald as David laid a hand on Shadow’s shoulder. Eggman laid his hand on Sonic’s shoulder. _“Chaos Control!”_ The two Hedgehogs shouted…and then the group of four were gone.

Knuckles turned and gazed at Black Death with a smile. Then he collapsed his staff back to its compact form and replaced it into the pack at his back. “So…our fight is _still_ unfinished, then,” Knuckles said, softly. “Before those two crazy Hedgehogs showed up, I was _actually_ starting to lose hope…but my hope has been renewed. You will _never_ win, because we will _never_ stop fighting for our future.” Knuckles laid his gloved hand over the three shards of the Master Emerald, which came together to form the great green jewel. “We’ll meet again, Black Death.”

And with that, leaving the alien-trapped-in-a-human-form scowling furiously, Knuckles teleported out of the _Dark Oasis_ by asking the green gemstone at his side to do so. The Echidna felt those familiar waves over his soul once again, as he was transported out onto the wings of the _Tornado_. Realizing he was outside the giant ship, Knuckles grinned and hastily reached for the stout cords strapped to the wings, so he could lash down the Master Emerald. He laughed softly as he sat down, leaning against the familiar object.

“Welcome back, fearless leader,” Vector called up to him, from the pilot’s seat. “Did you have _fun_ …? Because you _scared the hell_ outta everyone else!” He sighed, loudly. There was an anxious edge to the Crocodile’s voice, but it still sounded so very much like familiar old Vector.

“Sorry Vector… _but_ …I **_don’t_** regret it at all,” Knuckles responded, seriously, but still grinning in pleasure. “I actually feel _very good_ right now!” He laughed. The familiar and soothing presence of the Master Emerald spilled into that strange void within his soul—the void that could never seem to be filled by _anything else_ over all the years. It was _strange_ …it filled only that odd emptiness, but _not_ replacing any of the fulfillment he’d received from the family and friendship ties he’d formed in the last two decades. Knuckles the Echidna suddenly felt _so many_ different feelings and so many sensations of life inside of him at the moment.

He vowed that he would protect them _all_. Knuckles would protect the Master Emerald once more, he would protect the resistance in Station Square as well… _no, so much more than that_ —Knuckles the Echidna decided that he would protect _the entire Earth!_

“Well…it’s time you sat down and talked to the ones who love you the most, bro…” Vector said, his sharp voice cutting through Knuckles’ thoughts. “That’d be Rouge, Jason and Mighty, I believe!”

Knuckles bowed his head, smiling wryly when Vector added the Armadillo to that list. “Hey Vector…when did _you_ know about Mighty?” Knuckles asked, curiously.

“ _Awww_ , **_hell_ **bro! Are ya sayin’ ya just _now_ figured out that…?” Vector groaned. “ _Dammit_ , Mighty’s loved you for _years_ —why do you think he went on that trip ‘round the world like over twenty years back?” He responded in an even voice.

Knuckles shook his head… _that_ was why the Armadillo just suddenly left one day? To avoid telling anyone his _true feelings_ …? “I suppose _that_ figures…” Knuckles murmured, softly. “You’re _right_ … _as always_ …I need to sit down with the ones I love and talk to them—about so very many things,” he sighed.

“’Bout frickin’ time, man,” Vector chuckled, softly.

* * * * *

There was both joy and anxiousness all about Station Square, until Vector landed the _Tornado_ and the Station Square resistance was able to welcome their leader back. Everyone crowded around Knuckles as much as they possibly could…they were happy he was back and also many were very curious about the object he returned with, the _Master Chaos Emerald_. Although the group seemed a little reluctant to do so, they made a path for the young man as Jason began shoving his way through.

“ _How_ …how **_could_ **you?!” Jason cried, drawing a hand back, as if to slap Knuckles hard. But the swing faded and Knuckles simply felt a light tap of fingers on the curve of his muzzle, below the blind eye. Jason suddenly fell to his knees and was crying.

Knuckles’ heart ached to see the boy he’d raised with tears in his eyes once more. “I’m sorry, Jason…I _truly_ am,” he said, softly, wrapping his good arm about the young man’s shoulders. “There is so much I want to say…to _explain_ …to you, but…I wanted to protect the child who has been _like a son_ to me…I want to protect _everyone_ and give us a bright future to strive towards…” he trailed off, gentle warmth in his voice. Knuckles rubbed his muzzle lightly on top of the young man’s head and patted the broad shoulders. “Now… _if only_ I can get you to take care of _yourself_ and _stop smoking_ …” the red-furred Echidna sighed, a light teasing tone in his voice.

Jason laughed, softly at first…his sobs slowly turned into warm and happy laughter as he reached up and hugged Knuckles.

“Well, I suppose Rouge is already off and running on her mission?” Knuckles inquired, glancing about for the female Bat.

“Yeah,” Jason responded, taking another couple moments to savor the hug from Knuckles, before he got to his feet. “ _Oh_ …but…she wanted me to tell you something,” Jason began, trailing off and rubbing the back of his neck in anxiousness. “Man, how do I say this…since these are _her_ words…? Hmmm…let’s see…it was something like _‘thanks for knocking me up before I start a mission’_ , or something like that!” Jason laughed.

Knuckles’ single dark blue eye reflected puzzlement for a moment. “Knock her…wait—that’s _not_ possible! But…after _twenty years_ …?” The red-furred Echidna trailed off, rubbing his muzzle thoughtfully. “But we just…she _cannot_ know _this_ soon…!” He mumbled.

“The _last mission_ , you dope,” Vector chortled, lightly smacking Knuckles in the back of the head. “Well, _that_ was over a month ago…she’d _definitely_ know by now if she were pregnant or not!” He laughed.

“Do you know what this _means_ , Knuckles?” Mighty said, his dark brown eyes bright with excitement.

“It means that there _is a future_ for anyone and everyone,” Knuckles replied, smiling very warmly at his old friend. Then he reached over and brushed the edge of his mittened hand along the Armadillo’s jaw. “And _you_ will be the best uncle any of my children could ever have, right?” He added, fondness in his voice.

Mighty grinned and thumped a fist against his chest, in that familiar gesture of loyalty he had always used. “As always, you can count on me, bro!” He replied, grinning broadly.

The blue-furred Hedgehog had watched everything with a little bit of interest, but now he was getting bored and frustrated. He turned to the black-furred Hedgehog beside him. “Shadow, this is _way_ too sappy for me—wanna get home while they’re all busy celebrating?” He murmured, softly.

“Indeed,” Shadow whispered back, but he was smiling. “It is _nice_ to see a happy ending, though…” he trailed off in a soft voice.

Sonic gave a light chuckle…someone as reclusive and angsty as Shadow the Hedgehog was actually a fan of happy endings? Now _who_ would’ve ever have thought _that_!


	8. Changing the Moment

**_Chapter seven: Changing the Moment_ **

“Be careful…” the fair-haired little boy said to Knuckles, holding onto the Echidna’s arm. He didn’t know why…but for some reason he just felt he shouldn’t let go of the red-furred Anthro.

Knuckles began to feel more anxious…he _had_ to get out there and help both Sonic and Shadow! But he knew he shouldn’t rudely yank his arm away from the human child, as Sonic had done earlier. The Echidna turned his head up to the sky, to see where Sonic had leaped up, using a spin-dash as momentum. The missiles were going to hit the two Hedgehogs for certain!

Then something _strange_ seemed to happen. Shadow used Chaos Control and the air seemed to shimmer strangely for a moment. Knuckles gritted his teeth…noting that two of the missiles had gotten taken out by the aura of Chaos Control, but the _third_ missile was heading directly towards them—and neither Sonic, nor Shadow had reappeared yet!

“ ** _Back_** … _everyone either get as far as back as you can, get behind something or else get directly behind me in a second!_ ” Knuckles shouted to the people near him.

The strong Echidna lunged forwards, slamming both of his fists into the sidewalk pavement, then he yanked backwards with all of his strength. The slab of concrete groaned as it was hauled upright, making a shield over the entrance to the alley.

Several people crowded directly behind Knuckles, and he also heard many more scrambling for cover behind the garbage dumpsters. A small embrace of arms grabbed tight around Knuckles’ compact little body and he heard a soft sobbing. It was the little boy…and he was scared, _of course_. Knuckles clenched his teeth and focused all of his strength and determination into holding the massive slab of concrete upright over the alley entryway. If the missile hit…it would, _likely_ , still shatter the concrete, but Knuckles would use his strong body to hold back as much of the damage as he possibly could. With luck, he could protect everyone and only suffer _minor_ injuries!

And then Knuckles heard an explosion…further away than what he thought…and there was a slight vibration of debris striking the makeshift concrete shield.

“ _Jeeze Shadow_ , could you cut that any closer?” Sonic the Hedgehog groaned, sounding like he was on the other side of the cement blockade.

“And **_I’d_** like for you to _shut up_ , because I’ve got a massive headache due to all this Chaos Control usage,” Shadow snapped back.

Knuckles rolled his eyes at their juvenile arguing. “Look…I’m glad you two are enjoying yourselves, but I am going to squish you in a few short seconds if you don’t _move_!” The Echidna roared. Knuckles gave them about ten seconds and then yanked his fists out of the concrete slab.

The portion of sidewalk he’d pulled upright seemed to wobble for a moment, before slamming back down into the spot he’d pulled it up from. The pavement cracked and broke in a lot of places.

“Station Square Public Works _won’t_ be happy at that,” Sonic laughed.

Shadow walked over to Knuckles and held out the indigo Chaos Emerald to the Echidna, frowning. “I appreciate the loan of a Chaos Emerald, but please make sure that you bring along a _different color_ the next time, all right?” The black-furred Hedgehog muttered, darkly. “This damn thing is a _vampire_ —I can use _some_ power from it, but it sucks up my own strength in the process. I do **_not_** like it,” he mumbled as Knuckles took the indigo gemstone.

“All right, I’ll try to remember that,” Knuckles replied, nodding at Shadow.

Then Shadow’s eyes slid down to look at the human child that was clinging to Knuckles. Blonde-haired…blue-eyed…? Ah, it seemed that fate could sometimes be _so cruel_ as well! Shadow sighed and looked away. Knuckles had followed Shadow’s gaze down to the human boy and wondered why there was a sad look in the Hedgehog’s red eyes, before he gazed away from the child.

“ _Hey_ …you okay, kid?” Knuckles asked, reaching down and patting the boy’s head, hoping that the child would let go of him soon.

“ _Unh-hunh_ …” the boy murmured, straightening up and letting go of Knuckles, to rub at his eyes.

“Good…you know, you were pretty brave there,” Knuckles said with encouragement in his voice.

“ _Th—thanks_!” The child stammered, a huge grin crossing his face.

“Well, apparently my work here is done, so I’ll be heading back to Angel Island,” Knuckles said, before turning to Sonic. “Listen, next time I’m _not_ cleaning up after one of your screw-ups again, Sonic. Now I need to go and make sure a certain annoying Bat-girl _hasn’t_ stolen _my_ Master Emerald!” He snapped, dashing off.

Shadow sighed softly, again…glancing after the red-furred Echidna and then he turned to see the human child running over to his mother. Of course, coming back to _this moment_ …the past, their present…was the _right_ thing to do. But this ending left a bittersweet taste in Shadow’s mouth.

**_ End _ **


End file.
